Fritz Underground Winery
2010 Estate Zinfandel
Zinfandel
California: Dry Creek Valley
Mission Briefing
The Nick of Time
Please note that today’s wine will ship to you, today, if you place your order by 3:30pm, Pacific.
This delicious, highly recommended, Zinfandel is the perfect food wine - which is why we chose it as our final wine for Thanksgiving delivery.
Today’s 2010 Fritz Underground Winery Estate Zinfandel is a juicy, delicious wine that surprised our entire tasting panel. Despite its youthfulness, this wine is drinking beautifully. Loaded with flavor, this elegant treat is perfectly balanced with none of the rough edges that can be common in a wine so young as this one.
We adored the previous vintages of this wine and it is with great pride that we offer you this latest vintage. This wine possesses greater balance as far riper fruit than the 2008 and 2009 before it. Despite its relative youth, this wine is ready to drink, now. Be sure to stock up as this may be your only chance to purchase this wonderful wine.
Tasting Profile
| Look: | Darkest garnet with a darker, nearly opaque core. At the edge of the glass, a ring of beautiful ruby catches the light. After swirling, tall columns of fat, slow-moving tears fall down the glass wall. |
|---|---|
| Smell: | Black cherry, plum and blackberry lead the way. These lush aromas are followed by smoky sweet spice, candied cherry, leather, dark cocoa, leather, dried leaves, cigar box and black pepper. |
| Taste: | Bold actually, BlackBerry, read plum, sweet spice and leather lead the way. As the wine breeze it begins to open up, revealing follow-on flavors of tobacco, Cedar, toasty oak, and earthy savory notes of flint, dried fall leaves and black pepper. |
| Finish: | Dark fruits fade very gradually, gently giving way to leather, spice and earthen elements. Eventually, a soft mineral rich dryness spreads across the entire pallet |
| Pairing: |
What the Winery Says
Our 2010 Estate Zinfandel is handcrafted from 30 year old vines grown on the valley floor of our Estate, a 5 acre site that produces wines that are rich in color and flavor. In this garnet hued wine, look for aromas of blackberry, black and red cherry, wild berry, anise, and subtle dusty earth tones.
It is a well structured Zin with a balanced mouth feel and elegant tannins. Flavors of blackberry, black and red cherry, red licorice, carry through to it’s delightful finish
Wine Specs
Vintage: 2010
Varietal: Zinfandel
Appellation: Dry Creek Valley
Alcohol: 14.6%
About the Winery
A Destination Unrivaled
Fritz Underground Winery is unlike any place you’ve ever visited. A visionary wonder built ahead of its time by namesake Mr. Jay Arthur Fritz in the late 1970’s, this monumental Gaudi style masterpiece represents a viticultural passion for sustainability, quality, and tradition. Today, Jay’s son Clayton runs the winery with the same dedication and enthusiasm to these core values.
A Natural Wonder
Built into the side of a picturesque hill atop the northernmost region of the famed Dry Creek Valley, the Fritz Winery operates with a modern sensibility for efficiency and awareness by utilizing the unique attributes of its subterranean design. Naturally cool temperatures, ideal for wine making and cellaring, are maintained without any use of expensive or carbon-heavy devices common to most modern wine production. What’s more, as a three-tiered structure, we’re able to further cut down on energy usage by capitalizing on the always plentiful presence of gravity. By harnessing gravity to move our juice from the crush pad down to the tanks and barrels, we’re not only saving energy by forgoing pumps, we’re also saving our precious juice from the detrimental effects of excessive pulsation and buffeting. It’s in this way that the delicate nuances present in our Pinot Noir and other prized Estate fruit is maintained and the nurtured by our winemaker Brad Longton.
Quality Starts with Terroir
Jay Fritz’s vision for a winery grounded in responsible stewardship is what has allowed the quality of the natural bounty of our 120+ Estate to thrive over the past thirty years. With a natural spring to supply simple irrigation, redwood groves to provide unique micro-climates, and a soil ideal for prized planting year after year, the Fritz terroir provides for a caliber of wine unrivaled.
A Timeless Perspective
It was Jay Fritz’s fidelity to sustainability and quality that ultimately made the Fritz Winery what it is today. The company’s seamless respect for the vineyards, and the traditions of artisan, hand-crafted wine making continue today as both a testament to the founding and commitment to the future. Today, Clayton Fritz and the rest of the Fritz Winery Family work tirelessly to invigorate the traditions of old with the passion of the future. The results speak for themselves; we invite you to join us in enjoying the bounty of Fritz Underground Winery.