True Grist

Bradford Mountain 2003 Zinfandel Grist (Dry Creek Valley) – Very concentrated, perhaps overly so…it’s not big (for a zin), it’s just sort of a neutron star of a wine, with everything in a tiny little volume of gravitational singularity. There’s a good deal of dark, toasty oak spice, but that too is drawn inward. For all this, it manages to be a pleasant drink, but it needs the right food (something equally concentrated) to avoid being somewhat like a spirituous reduction of zinfandel. (11/07)

Grist for the mill

Bradford Mountain 2002 Syrah Grist (Dry Creek Valley) – 15.5%. Unmistakably syrah, and just as unmistakably Californian, with thick blueberry dominating a breath of leather and velvety tannin. If there’s oak here (and there probably is), the fruit’s soaked it all up, but the alcohol does remain a bit prickly. A lush, full-bodied but structured wine with aging potential…though watch that heat. (8/07)