Got to taste some dandy wines yesterday with Stephen Sterling of Esterlina and Everett Ridge wineries, including a dandy little riesling from Everett Ridge and a tasty Esterlina Sonoma Mountain Syrah.

But the highlights were the smooth, berry-laden 2005 Esterlina Anderson Valley Pinot Noir, which had about as big a nose as a guy could want, and Everett Ridge’s Rockpile Reserve Zinfandel 2005, a  rich, lusty effort from a justifiably renowned source.

Aside from the flavor, what was most striking about the latter was its lightness, at least relative to the brawny Rockpile zins I’ve known and loved from Rosenblum, Carol Shelton and Seghesio. The blueberry and spice aspects were there in the Everett Ridge, but there was less fleshiness than I expected. 

Sterling confirmed that Everett Ridge is one of many wineries that have been tamping down the alcohol content a bit in their zins. The excellent wine blogger Alder Yarrow confirmed as much in his posting on the recent Zinfandel Advoicates and Producers (ZAP) confab in San Francisco.

The always-thorough Yarrow not only discusses this trend but rates about 150 wines from the ZAP fest. Well worth checking out, as are the Esterlina PN and Everett Ridge Roockpile Zin.

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