This wine blog is focused on Central Coast wines, mostly from Monterey County, with few, defined exceptions. Today, I am presenting a wine from south of the Central Coast AVA border. Why? Because it has an interesting story, it was extremely delicious, I’m a Zin girl, and I have adored Carol Shelton from afar ever since we went met her at a ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates and Producers) event in Washington DC a long time ago. Plus, it’s my blog – I can make the rules and break them, too!
About Carol Shelton (summarized from https://www.carolshelton.com/about-us/): “…Carol started at UC Davis in 1974 as an undeclared major with a penchant for language and an aptitude for science. While on a tour of Sebastiani Winery, Carol walked into the barrel room, and was moved by the scent of red wine and oak in the air…Armed with her Bachelor’s degree in Enology from Davis, she has never looked back, working her first harvest in 1978 and every harvest since then…In 1981, Carol began working for Rodney Strong and Windsor Vineyards …with Zinfandel coming up as her favorite wine time and time again…Then in 2000, at the urging of Carol’s husband Mitch, she decided to start her own winery, acting as President and Winemaker…”
“Carol & Mitch Mackenzie, her husband and business partner, have sought out exceptional vineyards throughout California including Dry Creek Valley, Rockpile, Russian River Valley, Fountaingrove District, Paso Robles, Lodi, Mendocino County, and the Cucamonga Valley of Southern California…Carol Shelton has won Winemaker of the Year five times, has countless gold medals for her wines and was named one of eight Pioneer Women Winemakers of Sonoma County in 2005. She continues to win awards and accolades – her 2011 Wild Thing Zinfandel was included in the Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines of 2014…”
About the Cucamonga AVA: The Cucamonga Valley AVA is located about 45 miles east of Los Angeles and 15 miles west of San Bernardino. It is part of the South Coast AVA, which extends south of Santa Barbara to the San Diego border with Mexico. With over 80 wineries in pre-Prohibition days, it is now only a handful of wineries and vineyards, mostly producing Zinfandel and other big red varietals. It has a Mediterranean climate, great for Zinfandel, port and sherry. There is good information on the American Winery Guide website.
2017 Carol Shelton Monga Zin ®, Lopez Vineyard, Cucamonga Valley AVA, 14.5% ABV, $26 (#412)
About the Lopez Vineyard (from her website): “Located in the Cucamonga Valley in southern California 70 miles inland from Los Angeles, Jose Lopez Vineyard was planted in 1918 for “packing grapes” to ship to home winemakers in Chicago and the East. These old Zinfandel vines struggle in the near desert-like conditions; with rocky-sandy soil that holds very little water. After nine decades, they have only grown to about 18 inches tall, and have just a few tiny fist-sized clusters on each vine. Many of the old vineyards in this valley have fallen victim to urban sprawl. We are fortunate that Don Galleano is passionate about keeping this old vineyard alive despite its rather poor economic returns—only a half a ton per acre instead of the expected 2-4 tons per acre of younger, irrigated vineyards. Through Don’s dedicated efforts, this vineyard passed the rigid CCOF standards in 2004, and is officially organically grown.”
About the Monga Zin ®: “We christened the Monga Zin ® as we stumbled while saying its appellation too many times, probably after having too much of this HUMONGOUS mouthful of fruit and rich milk chocolate.”
Winemaker Notes: “Deep black cherry fruit, dried cranberry, orange zest, berry patch in the sun! Dusty vanilla-caramel oak, graham crackers, and cocoa. Fragrant Moroccan-Asian spices—Chinese 5-spice mélange…
“Mouthfeel is creamy yet tangy bright cherry, firm-sturdy tannins and a long, lush finish. Super concentrated. Quite drinkable now and will age a good 15-20 years. Very mouthfilling!”
100% Zinfandel, 14 months aged in 25% new American oak barrels 75% older French/American oak barrels, Released February 2019.
My Review: Deep ruby, almost purple in the glass. Fragrant nose of berry jam on toast. Super dry and a bit tart on the palate with rich flavors of dark berry jam, cassis, with a lingering caramel finish. This is a big, complex red. I feel I could be very happy drizzling this on some ice cream. This was a big hit at my house and disappeared quickly. June 2021
You can buy Carol Shelton wines on her webpage and visit them in Santa Rosa. For more information, check out this link: https://www.carolshelton.com/visit/.
*Refers to wines tasted while Sheltering in Place on Sharon’s personal Facebook group “Sharon’s Central Coast (Monterey) Wine Blog” – including non-Central Coast wines.
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