Bodkin The Hill and The Vale Zinfandel 2014
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Wine
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Wilfred
Wong
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Wine Enthusiast
Co-fermented with 10% Petite Sirah, this red certainly impresses. With a fruity entry, it meets a leathery tightness on the midpalate, its mix of cherry and orange confounding expectations of darker expression from the varieties with its rose-tinged aromas. Spicy pepper rounds out the finish.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
The inviting 2014 Bodkin The Hill and The Vale Zinfandel starts out with beautifully concentrated berry aromas and shifts to a delightfully crisp and well-balanced structure on the palate. The wine's surprisingly elegant finish pairs it well with a rosemary-accented leg of lamb. (Tasted: March 22, 2017, San Francisco, CA
The story of Bodkin Wines starts on a muddy field outside the town of Agincourt in the north of France on the 25th of October, 1415. Small in numbers, starved for days and ravaged by sickness an English army of 5,000 peasant archers and 1,000 knights, led by their 28-year-old King found itself trapped. Sanding between English and the safety of their land was an army of nearly 30,000 of the wealthiest and best armed men in all of France ready for battle--giddy to collect the ransom of a king. But no ransom was to be collected. For on that day, the feast day of Saints Crispin and Crispinian, Henry V and his army of peasant bowmen with their armor-piercing bodkin-pointed arrows gave history a story that inspired Shakespeare to pen a legend for the ages.
584 years later, Chris first heard this story in Mr. Alberty's English Literature class at Washington High in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Bravery and brotherhood, arrows and axes, stirring speeches and a smoking hot French princess--the play Henry V had everything an 18 year old nerdling could have wanted--he was hooked. The play's most famous quote ''We few, we happy few'' has been his motto since he started working his way up through the world of wine production in 2003.
Founded in 2011 by journeyman cellar hand and self-taught Winemaker Chris Christensen, Bodkin Wines disrupted the sparkling wine scene with America’s First Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc in 2012. With one foot rooted in wine science and the other in craftsmanship, Christensen’s minimalist philosophy guides his signature style of high acid, low alcohol wines. As an African-American winemaker Christensen works to promote diversity and inclusion in the wine industry through speaking engagements, podcasts and mentorship opportunities for aspiring vintners and winery owners.
Unapologetically bold, spice-driven and jammy, Zinfandel has secured its title as the darling of California vintners by adapting well to the state's diverse microclimates and landscapes. Born in Croatia, it later made its way to southern Italy where it was named Primitivo. Fortunately, the imperial nursery of Vienna catalogued specimens of the vine, and it later made its way to New England in 1829. Parading the true American spirit, Zinfandel found a new home in California during the Gold Rush of 1849. Somm Secret—California's ancient vines of Zinfandel are those that survived the neglect of Prohibition; today these vines produce the most concentrated, ethereal and complex examples.
Home to a diverse array of smaller AVAs with varied microclimates and soil types, Sonoma County has something for every wine lover. Physically twice as large as Napa Valley, the region only produces about half the amount of wine but boasts both tremendous quality and variety. With its laid-back atmosphere and down-to-earth attitude, the wineries of Sonoma are appreciated by wine tourists for their friendliness and approachability. The entire county intends to become a 100% sustainable winegrowing region by 2019.
Sonoma County wines are produced with carefully selected grape varieties to reflect the best attributes of their sites—Dry Creek Valley’s consistent sunshine is ideal for Zinfandel, while the warm Alexander Valley is responsible for rich, voluptuous red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are important throughout the county, most notably in the cooler AVAs of Russian River, Sonoma Coast and Carneros. Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Syrah have also found a firm footing here.