I picked up this strange yet seductive wine on a recent tasting trip to Sonoma with my first cousin. We somehow thought it would be a good idea to hit up 28 wineries in 4 days. Crazy I know but more about that later. Carol Shelton is a legendary California wine-maker who perhaps has fallen out of the spotlight in the last few years but still makes some baller site-specific Zinfandels. Although her tasting room is hidden in an ugly corporate park in Santa Rosa and is dominated by purple painted walls and an over abundance of stuffed animal wiener dogs, the wines themselves meant business.
I really liked most of the Zins but I chose to focus on this Rose since it was selling at just $5 a bottle! This was supposedly due to the damage that was caused to the grapes by the forest fires that ravaged California that season. (I remember really loving a 2006 Pinot from Phelps Creek that was on discount for the same reason.) Although grape vines can filter out temporary periods of poor quality in the air, the smoke from the fires that year stuck around for most of the growing season.
This rose has quite a dark pink color with a fire engine red core. The nose is dominated by caramelized burnt sugar, cotton candy, and dirty pond water. I get canned peach and watermelon fruit on the flavor profile with notes of peaty whiskey and smoke. It’s a California style full bodied rose that falls on the sweeter side of the aisle with a fairly short finish. The smoke has effected this wine but for my palate it adds character to an already decent rose. Its pretty cool to get a real taste of the 2008 vintage for only 5 bucks. If you find yourself in the area, head over to the Carol Shelton tasting room for some well priced high quality Zins and pick this up by the case.
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