Hello Squirrel Club – Wine Fans,
Spring is in the air…or sometime soon…and we are releasing three wines. If you are a ZINFANATIC, you will receive our 2021 Dry Creek Zinfandel. If you are a MIXED NUT, you will receive the aforementioned Zinfandel and the 2021 Hopkins Ranch Pinot Noir, a welcome return after fires rendered the 2020 Pinot pas bienvenue. As an optional wine club shipment, you may add-on our 2021 Hopkins Ranch Chardonnay.
Thank you for being part of our Nalle organoleptic tribe. These wines will beckon you, as they do us, to pair them with your/our creative home cooking! A glass on the porch always satisfies, as well.
Flow like wine, be the ball, and keep it between the ditches,
April, Andrew, Lee, Doug, Lena (7), Drew (6), Ruby (3), and Squirrel Club CEO Kathy
2021 DRY CREEK VALLEY ‘CLASSIC’ ZINFANDEL
Dream State
I don’t have room to describe the wonderfulness of this wine. Here’s what others say:
“105 points” Wine Exaggerator
“98 points” Wine Expectorator
“A Nalle Zin by any other name would smell as sweet.”
–Wm. Shakespeare
“Penicillin cures, but Nalle Zin makes people happy.”
–Alexander Fleming
Reality
TASTE: Fruit bowl, cocoa, nutmeg, raspberry/boysenberry that lingers, Dry Creek dustiness.
NOSE: Zinberry, crème brûlée, sweet spice, floral.
WINEMAKER: Balanced flavors of Zin fruitiness, French oak, tannin structure, alcohol, and acidity. Mysterious premium Zinfandel deliciousness. Fun and complex. This wine captures the vintage
Case Count: 578 | Alc. 13.9 | pH 3.62 | TA 6.3
2021 HOPKINS RANCH PINOT NOIR
Dream State
This Pinot slams my senses. I’ve not had a Pinot Noir this good since I was in Burgundy and trespassed the DRC properties and drank their world class wines. Hopkins Ranch Pinot will shower you with complex aromas and flavors if allowed to rest in your finest Riedel stemware for 18 minutes.
Reality
TASTE: Dark cherry, raspberry/strawberry, white plum, violet, lilac, and dried vanilla. Delicately complex.
NOSE: Classically proportioned Russian River Pinot. Bright cherry, strawberry, delicate spicy French oak, lush, mouthwatering minerality.
WINEMAKER: This terroir-driven wine echoes the loamy, silty soil of the Hopkins River Ranch. Fun to drink and analyze the layered complexities. Soft tannins, balancing acidity. Ready to drink sooner than later. The tannins in this wine will pair with your favorite salmon recipe.
Case Count 443 | Alc. 13.8 | pH 3.60 | TA 6.1
2021 HOPKINS RANCH CHARDONNAY
Dream State
This sauce is freakin’ fabulous! Its medium straw color begs me to slurp it NOW! But wait; I smell this panoply of Chardonnay aromas: passionfruit, grilled pineapple, Comice pear, quince and ohhh….the taste and texture of yummy apple pie richness, lemon pie filling melded with delicate French oak vanilla bouncing o mouthwatering acidity. I’m overwhelmed by this Chardonnay’s immediate drinkability but I pledge to hold a few bottles for future infatuation.
Reality
TASTE: See dream state
NOSE: See dream state
WINEMAKER: The organically grown Hopkins River Ranch produces exceptional Russian River Chardonnay; hand-picked and whole cluster pressed, barrel fermented in French oak and aged sur lie for eleven months.
Case Count 202 | Alc. 13.8 | pH 3.41 | TA 5.9