klinkerbrickwinery.com
15887 N Alpine Rd. Lodi, CA 95240 (map link)
(866) 333-1845
Friends: still tipsy, but willing to start throwing down again. Mike: still Mr. Palate Fatigue. Me: at the winery tasting room I’d most wanted to taste from, on what was apparently its first day open ever. Clearly, from the crowd, a quarter of the people attending Lodi Wine and Chocolates Weekend felt the same way about Klinker Brick.
My palate by now was getting a bit overextended, but I wasn’t going to let a silly thing like that stop me. Fortunately, Klinker Brick had brought in an outrageously good cheese maker to offer samples at the event, so my whimpering taste buds got a chance to restore themselves with something not made of grapes. Thus fortified, I was able to make some scant notes on what I tasted.
2008 Farrah Syrah: It smelled of cherries and plums, tasted like plums and raspberries, and got a “yum” from me — quite an accomplishment at this point in the day!
2008 Old Vine Zinfandel: Even the palate-fatigued Mike said “mmm” when he smelled this. I can’t blame him – it smelled of sun dried tomatoes and pepperoni. It tasted like cherries and pepper, with some cinnamon on the finish. It would be great both for a classy party and to go with takeout pizza. Of course, all my classy parties involve takeout pizza, so I may be biased. (Mokelumne River appellation.)
2008 Old Ghost: The vines these grapes are sourced from are just three years shy of being termed “ancient.” There was nothing ghostly about the flavor – it tasted of syrup and pepper. (Mokelumne River appellation.)
After our tasting, we got an unsuspecting member of the crowd to take our photo.