If you are visiting us for the first time, Welcome! The Wine Spies feature one exceptional wine each day – and we only bring you wines that we ourselves seek out and love. Always, the wines are great. Sometimes greater than great, as is the case with today’s wine from Camellia Cellars.

SUPER SONOMA ALERT!

Some of the best wines in the world are made right here in Sonoma County. Today’s wine is another great example of the quality that Sonoma producers are crafting. Be sure to check back with us every Tuesday, when The Wine Spies always feature one great Sonoma County winery.

Savings Alert!

Shipping Included on 6 bottles or more. Enter this coupon code at checkout (discount will be shown before you complete your order): SPYZIN

Mission Codename: Mutiny for the Bountiful

Operative: Agent Red

Objective: Revisit Camellia Cellars and capture their beautiful Zinfandel

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Camelia Cellars

Wine Subject: 2005 Bountiful Zinfandel

Winemaker: Bruce Snyder

Backgrounder:

Today, Central Command throws Agent Red another bone by sending him back to Camellia Cellars in Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County, where his first taste of their Zinfandel left him longing for more. Read his mission report below for full details on today’s exceptional wine.

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Cranberry juice cocktail in color with perfect clarity, a slightly darker heart, concentrated color to the edges of the glass, a still surface and even, perfectly spaced legs

Smell – Concentrated earthen jammy aromas of cherry, blueberry, blackberry bramble, subtle tomato stem and a hint of black pepper

Feel – Wet and cool up front, then round on the mid-palate with soft to medium tannins and bright, balanced acidity

Taste – Layers of chewy, jammy sweetness with cherry, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, lightly toasted oak and soft spice

Finish – Fruity-sweet, then tails off slowly with a lingering palate-cleansing acidity, supple tannins and flavors that taper slowly and a little tartly

Conclusion – Bruce Snyder knows how to craft a wine that is perfectly balanced. With delicious flavors, deep aromatics and enough acidity to work with most foods, today’s Bruce-created gem is another great wine of distinction and incredible value. Winemaker Bruce Snyder and grower Chris Lewand once again prove that they can build wines that absolutely charm and delight the senses.

Mission Report:

Today’s mission was an easy one. I visited the winery, I asked for another of their great wines, the winery gave me a number of cases, I reviewed the wine, and now the rest is up to you! Only pick up this wine if you really love great Zinfandel, however, because our Zin fans have been yelling at me to sleuth out some great Zinfandels.

The last time we had a mission to Camellia Cellars, the mission report was a real hit. Because I am feeling sort of lazy today, and because we got so much fan mail the last time we featured a Camellia Cellars wine, I’ll share it with you again:

Ouch! That bottle fell right onto my head. I can’t believe that this bottle shop could be so careless with the way they stacked their bottles in this display!

As I reach up to feel the lump on the top of my head, I catch a sudden movement out of the corner of my eye. I spin around to see two figures burst through the doors of the store. The urgency on their faces tells me to brace myself for trouble.

“We’re here for Agent Red,” One of the men shouts. “He needs to come with us now.”

Bravely, so as to keep others in the store from harm, I yell, “I’m Red. Who are you?”

“My authentication word of today is Medoc!”, one of the men says with great seriousness.

Medoc is a district in France’s Bordeaux region where Cabernet Sauvignon is prominently grown. The authentication word is accurate and I follow the men through the doors… and into the burgundy-colored helicopter waiting in the street.

Once on board, Agent White barks orders to the chopper’s pilot and we are airborne. Wasting no words, White concisely and severely lays out the scenario for me: Wine-hating Oeno-terrorists group D.W.I.N.D.L.E. (Destroy Wine, Imbibe Noxious Drinks Like Ethanol) has threatened to render Cabernet Sauvignon grapes unsuitable for vinification by releasing a gene which destroys the grapes inherent good qualities. Their plan is to release a cloud of this gene in an invisible carrier-gas, first over Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Valley, and then other of California’s Cabernet-famous regions.

Dry Creek Valley is where Camellia Cellars – where today’s mission was to take me – happens to be. With any luck, I would save Camellia, the Dry Creek Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon!

Suddenly an explosion rocks the helicopter and I am blown out of the open door and find myself free falling toward the neat vineyard rows below. Without losing my cool, I pull the ripcord on my parachute (good thing I had the foresight to wear one under my tuxedo before leaving Central Command earlier this morning) and float gently to the ground.

Unfortunately, a sudden gust of wind ruins what would have been a pristine landing, and blows me toward a tree.

(blackness)

I wake to find myself in a hospital bed and I realize I am not alone in the room. Standing by the bed is Agent White and two people that I slowly come to recognize from briefing photos I had studied earlier in the day; Camellia winemaker, Bruce Snyder, and grower, Chris Lewand, are here with a bottle of their Cabernet Sauvignon in hand. Smiles are splashed across all three faces.

Agent White says, “You dummy. The bottle shop called me. They told me that you bumped a wine display and caused an avalanche of bottles to cascade down on your head. You’re lucky you got off with just a few bumps and bruises.”

“The way you were carrying on, it sounds like you were having some interesting dreams,” Bruce adds.

I look up at them, laugh nervously, and, pointing at the wine bottle, say, “I hope you brought a corkscrew. I have to see if I saved Cabernet!”

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The location of the Lencioni Vineyard, where much of the juice for today’s wine came from, can be seen in this satellite photo.