Miro Cellars
Today's Wine:
2011 Zinfandel
| Varietal: | Zinfandel |
| Vineyard: | Wolcott-Bevill & Piccetti Vineyard |
| Region: | Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma |
| Avg. Price: | $27.00 |
| Wine Spies: |
$18.99
(over 25% off)
|
STUPENDOUS WINE ALERT:
We are absolutely crazy about today’s wine. Act quickly as we are very likely to sell out of this incredible Zinfandel from one of our very favorite wineries, Miro Cellars.
SUPER QPR ALERT:
At today’s special Wine Spies price, this wine delivers tremendous value - and a drinking experience that exceeds expectations, easily earning it this special QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Alert.
Mission Codename: Calling Agent KGB
- Operative
- Agent Red
- Objective
- Before the global release of the wine, return to Miro Cellars and abscond with their upcoming 2011 Wolcott-Bevill & Piccetti Vineyard Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel, an incredible wine that will delight our Operatives
- Mission Status
- Accomplished!
- Winemaker
- Miro Tcholakov
Final Assessment
Classic Miro, this wine is a true delight on all levels!
Today’s Miro Cellars 2011 Zinfandel Wolcott-Bevill & Piccetti Vineyard Dry Creek Valley is a truly fantastic wine. We offer it to you, today, with our heartiest recommendation. Miro’s style leans toward big, juicy and fruit forward - but with an elegance that gives his wines wonderful balance. His wines are big, but they also have plenty of class.
Today’s two vineyard Zin hails from two exceptional vineyard sources, both of which are known for producing superb grapes used by some of the finest wineries in the world. Wolcot-Bevill can be found in wines from Nickel & Nickel, Alderbrook, Amphora, Yoakim Bridge, Passalacqua, Dry Creek Vineyards, Simi, Arrowood, Beringer, Hawley, Lambert Bridge and others. Picetti grapes can be found in ultra-premium wines from [REDACTED] and [REDACTED], who buy Picetti grapes covertly.
Enjoy this deeply delicious wine with the widest range of foods. Be sure to stock up on enough to last you through the year. We’ll be enjoying our now, through the fall.
Tasting Profile
Darkest ruby red that, when swirled takes on a lovely purple hue.
Darkest black cherry, currant, fig, black plum, saddle leather, dried fall leaves, dark bakers chocolate, whole espresso bean, tea leaf, tobacco leaf, brown spice and a subtle hint of mint.
Stewed stonefruit, blackberry, black cherry, black pepper, toasty vanilla, dried plum, dried cassis, dried tobacco leaf.
Dark and ultra-long with pronounced plum, dried mission fig, tobacco and black pepper.
One could enjoy this wine with a wide variety of foods, but we’ll be enjoying ours with grilled lamb burgers with all the trimmings.
What the Winery Says
Miro Cellars Freedom of Expression
2011 Zinfandel Wolcott-Bevill & Piccetti Vineyard Dry Creek Valley
- VINEYARD
- 2011 Miro Zin was harvested from two distinct vineyards in the heart of Dry Creek Valley. Geographically the sites are opposite of each other and on very different soil types.
Piccetti is the oldest of the two—about 30 years old and it was part of Joe Vogensen’s property—planted on a very steep slope in Western Dry Creek valley. Wolcott-Bevill is just off Dry Creek road on a hill with eastern exposure.
- THE VINTAGE
- 2011 harvest was a bit challenging with three rain events in the month of October. Zin is an early ripening variety and thankfully both vineyards were ready to harvest before the rst rain on October 1st and 2nd. Mother Nature was good to me that year because Zin does not like rain at full ripeness. The season was relatively cool overall resulting in brighter fruit aromas, higher acid levels and intensely colored wines in general.
- WINEMAKING
- The grapes were harvested early morning still cold from the night and destemmed only with no crushing. Piccetti was fermented in small open top bins because of the relatively thinner and more fragile berry skins. Wolcott-Bevill was tank fermented with pump overs. The fermentation was very slow but eventually it nished dry. The wine was aged in 35% new Bulgarian and French oak barrels for about 13 months Before bottling 5.5% Petite Sirah from Piccetti vineyards was blended in as well. Cheers!
- HARVEST
- Oct. 1 & 2, 2011
- BRIX
- 25.5
- ALCOHOL
- 14.9%
- TA
- 0.61
- RS
- 0.2%
- PH
- 3.77
- BOTTLED
- Dec. 21, 2012
- PRODUCTION
- 188 cases
- BLEND
- 94.5% Zinfandel; 5.5% Petite Sirah
- WINEMAKER’S NOTES
- A viscous and juicy wine that does not require a lot of aging to please you. Ripe without going overboard, the wine is loaded with the “essence” of Zin—wild berries, dark cherries and strawberries typical for Dry Creek Zins. The oak contributes aromas of spice, toast and slight vanilla- chocolate with a bit of a brown sugar. On the palate the wine is full, soft and nishes fresh and juicy. At the time of these notes, the wine is very young and tightly focused with good structure.
About the Winery
Born and raised in northern Bulgaria, a region with many millennia of winemaking history, Miro (Miroslav) Tcholakov was exposed to wine and winemaking at a very early age. His grandfather had long made the family supply of wine. As a boy, Miro was at his side during all phases of the process.
After completing his mandatory military service, he attended the Higher Institute of Agriculture in Plovdiv where he studied viticulture and enology. Soon after graduation, in the summer of 1990, he was chosen from hundreds of candidates to participate in an international exchange program in agriculture set up by The Future Farmers of America. After a few months in Napa, he was taken on as harvest intern at Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Vineyard. What was supposed to be a temporary harvest job turned into a nine-year position moving through the ranks from Cellar Master to Assistant Winemaker in 1997.
In 1998 Miro went to work as Winemaker for Trentadue Winery, which is still his “day job.” In addition to bringing more acclaim to the winery by creating world class award-winning wines, Miro’s duties include overseeing many custom crush operations for some renowned winemaker clients. In 2001, Miro became his own customer with his inaugural bottling of his Petite Sirah. Within a few weeks of its release, it received a fat 90 points and a “well-endowed” write-up from Robert Parker, Jr. in the Wine Advocate.
