Wine of the week: the world’s greatest zinfandel

2017 Once & FutureThis Californian zinfandel is a truly great wine with fabulous black-cherry fruit, impeccable lift and brightness, and thrilling acidity on the finish.

Matthew Jukes
By
published
in Features

2017 Once & Future zinfandel

2017 Once & Future, Teldeschi Frank's Block Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley, California£47.40, Indigo Wine, 020-7733 8391, info@indigowine.com (minimum order is £200)

If you have ever enjoyed the wines from the famous Ravenswood portfolio or indeed the lusty red grape zinfandel, then pay attention. This wine is made by Joel Peterson, founder of Ravenswood back in 1976. Over the years I have written up more of Joel's zinfandels than every other zin producer on earth added together. Joel sold his brand to Constellation in 2001 and he continued consulting until 2015. He then embarked on the most audacious winemaking journey of his life, Once & Future, the only rule being that he makes every single wine himself by hand.

His knowledge of California's old vines is second to none and at a recent tasting in London I scored my old pal's wines higher than anything I have seen from over the pond in decades. All newly released 2017s, a few zins, a mataro and a stellar petite sirah all blew me away, but when I tasted Frank's Block my palate went into orbit.

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Only 252 cases were made from 113-year-old vines, planted on Tuscan Red Hills series soils, which are dry farmed. This is a truly great wine with fabulous black-cherry fruit, and impeccable lift and brightness, coupled with thrilling acidity on the finish. The tannins alone are sensational. I gave it 19.5/20 in my notes and this makes it the highest scoring zin of my life.

Indigo is the importer and it has kindly offered to sell it to you direct before it makes its way out onto the market. Do not pass up this opportunity.

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year (matthewjukes.com)

Matthew Jukes
Matthew Jukes

Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.  

Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.

He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.

Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’.  He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner. 

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy.  His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.

 

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