Harvest Moon Estate Zinfandel Pitts Home Ranch 2004  750ml $58.00   Your Shopping Cart: Join one of the Harvest Moon Wine Clubs and save up to 30% on wines!

Vintage & Varietal

Varietal: 100% Russian River Valley Estate Zinfandel
Vintage: 2004
401 cases produced. Bottled unfiltered on August 11 and 12th 2006
Alcohol: 15.10% by volume
Technical Notes: R.S. = .069; Ph = 3.09; T.A. = .67; V.A. = .069
 

Grower & Winemaker's Notes

Over the course of the 2004 growing season, approximately 40% of the Zinfandel fruit grown on the Estate was thinned (dropped to the ground) in late July in order to produce the aromatic intensity that lies inside. Harvest Moon employs an extensive canopy management program with the trellised 5 acre Zin block. This program includes spring suckering, leaf pulling, cane-positioning, fruit-thinning and bull-caning. Deficit-irrigation was also employed, whereas the vines received just the amount of water such that the vine didn’t begin to shut down. A wise man once said, “stressed vines create complex wines”.

We feel this Zin exemplifies the elegance of Russian River Valley Zinfandel... This is a wine that whispers.

Tasting Notes

This 100% Estate Zin barreled for a full 20 months in mostly neutral oak is packed full of bright tart juicy raspberries all wrapped around a mouthwatering spicy backbone.  Don't let the pale color and light body detract you from the bountiful amounts of perfumed rose pedal and juicy tart cran-raspberry flavors.  We feel this wine will age gracefully for at least a decade and perhaps longer.

Updated Tasting Notes: May 12, 2009 by Randy

“With almost three years in the bottle, two words… Simply yum. Upwards on a 24 degree grade, this wine reminds me of the wiley coyote on the classic road runner cartoon I watched as a child. Intense core cherry aromas still register profusely in the glass while faint pepper powder aromas make a brief yet memorable appearance. The once light body and lean mouth feel are slowly evolving into something animalistically pleasing to the senses. The wine reveals flavors of dusty red cherry pie clove and pepper. It’s almost like the pepper and cherry are jockeying for front position on my tongue. The wine gives some heat off on the nose, but it dissipates. Angular jagged tannins continue to check in, although melt significantly once swirling around in my burgundy big bowl for 15 minutes. Wild, zippy, needing time to still unwind, this Estate Zin is powerful dressed in a long sleek red dress. This wine needs another two years in the bottle and could use three or four. I’ll be saving me a case for the long haul. Fewer than 20 cases remain.

2004 Pitts Home Ranch Estate ZinfandelTasting notes update 8/23/11:This single vineyard Estate Zin was bottled July 2006 and has sat patiently in the bottle for five full years. This was my third commercial vintage so I was still (young)subscribing to a 30% new French/American Hybrid Barrel program (ridiculusly high % compared to current). Fortunately, the new oak has nearly integrated and taken its appropriate seat as a background character to this beautiful story. Upon pouring the first splash, I notice 60 months worth of bottle aging. The perfumey and earthy red fruit billowed from the nose with a slight stumble. Ok, it’s only been 4 minutes, so I better go water the garden... I tiny gulp and I’m off...45 minutes later...

A Warm (and rare) summer Russian River Evening, the wine warms to room temp...

Very appealing aromas. The pale colored zin does not tell the story of the INTENSE perfumed pomogranite berry dancing around with the most wonderful moist redwood grove and holiday spice. Worn brown leather and faint white pepper powder skirt around the edges of this beauty. OK, I’ll take a sip.

Taste: With so many flavors registering on my palate that I’m not even sure where to begin... I am so glad I kept 17 cases of this wine tucked away. Gobs of bursting red fruits flow from the glass past my anxious lips. While tart dark cherry and simmering spice are the initial flavors to check in, ripe juicy raspberry kicks in at the end with an overwhelming juicy finish. The finish reminds me of the old waterslides in Windsor.Drinking Window is still 3-7 years out folks, however decant this elegant zin for hours or pair it with duck, short ribs and/or other roasted animals. Have the baked red potatoes, garden fresh veggies and bbq’d garlic close by.