Laurel Glen Reds - $10.99

Wine Details

Price: $10.99
Producer: Laurel Glen Vineyard
Region: Lodi
Varietal: Dry Red Table Wine
Container Size: 750 ML
Flavors: blackberry, cedar, nutty, oak, sage, spicy
  • Award Winning
  • Red Wine
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Product Description

  • Common wisdom tells us that the coastal areas of California, with their variable weather patterns, produce wines of great vintage distinction. On the other hand, the central California wines are more standardized, given the unvaryingly warm summers. This generality, though largely true, is not always easy to apply to the growing conditions in Lodi, as the 2006 vintage proves. Perhaps it’s that fabled Delta breeze that makes the difference? While the zinfandel harvest in Lodi often takes place in early September, this year it began in early October, and astonishingly, a couple of weeks before the cabernet harvest at coastal Laurel Glen. Our Lodi petite syrah and 118 year old were picked right on schedule in late September, and were unusually deep and concentrated. So go figure! But how did all this affect the resulting wine? Normally, REDS is predominantly zinfandel, with lesser percentages of petite syrah and carignane, but in 2006 we blended equal proportions of each varietal to add complexity and heft to the blend. The 2006 REDS is delicious, spicy, and rich with zinfandel providing dark raspberry fruit, carignane adding an exotic tang of white pepper, while the petite syrah tones down the tendency of zinfandel to become too jammy and pulls the whole blend together with its deep color and black pepper flavors. Enjoy, as always, with Mediterranean cuisine, and bistro, burgers, and barbeque!

Expert Ratings

Ratings   Vintage Source Flavors
WineEnthusiast - 86 Details: An old-fashioned field blended-style wine, Reds is almost always a dependably complex, satisying sipper at a fair price. This year’s release is soft and dry, with well-balanced fruit and earth flavors that will go nicely with a good steak or grilled pork chop. 2004 WineEnthusiast
Tastings - 87 Details: Brilliant ruby red-violet hue. Cedar, sage and blackberry aromas. Medium-full, this is a ripe, spicy and rich red with youthful tannins, ample oak and a nutty, spicy note in the finish, which is slightly bitter 2002 Tastings blackberry, cedar, nutty, oak, sage, spicy
WineEnthusiast - 89 Details: This blend of Zinfandel, Carignane and Petite Sirah tastes like one of those regional wines you discovered on vacation. You remember the sweet cherries, how dry it was, and how perfect with that chicken cacciatore. Shows up the promise of Lodi. 2002 WineEnthusiast cherries
CGCW - 85 Details: 60% Zinfandel; 30% Carignane; 10% Petite Sirah. This wine is something of a throw-back to the rustic California field-blends of years past, and, while it is fairly tough and never especially revealing of Zinfandel specifics, it is a hearty, ripe, cleanly made red that will serve happily with pizzas and red-sauced pastas. 2002 CGCW
WineSpectator - 83 Details: Smoky, meaty aromas with jammy black raspberry, spice and espresso flavors. Shows modest complexity but turns a hint bitter and herbaceous on the finish. Zinfandel, Carignane and Petite Sirah. Drink now through 2006. 12,000 cases made. – 2002 WineSpectator
WineSpectator - 84 Details: Round and ripe, with pleasant tannic grip and depth to dried currant, vegetal, black cherry, chocolate and toasty oak flavors. Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignane and others. Good value. Drink now through 2005. 24,000 cases made. – 2000 WineSpectator black cherry, chocolate, currant, toasty oak, vegetal
WineEnthusiast - 87 Details: This year, Patrick Campbell has crafted an unusual blend of Zinfandel, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Grenache and Barbera, but the basic Reds style remains unchanged. It’s still a big, lusty wine. Filled with young, fresh jammy flavors and strong acids, it’s dry as dust, and cries out for rustic foods, like pizza or grilled chicken. 2000 WineEnthusiast jammy
Tastings - 85 Details: Brilliant ruby red hue. Pepper, black cherry and truffle aromas. A medium-bodied palate leads to a finish with good depth of ripe black currant fruit, youthful tannins and lively acidity 2000 Tastings black cherry, black currant, pepper, truffle
Tastings - 83 Details: Brilliant ruby red hue. Dried herb, cherry, cedar and oak aromas. Medium-bodied, this is rather herbaceous with god depth of fruit and soft tannins 2000 Tastings
WineSpectator - 82 Details: Simple, with flavors of roasted herb, currant and plum. Drink now through 2003. 27,500 cases made. 1999 WineSpectator
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Food Pairings

Category Pairing
Cheese Soft Pungent Cheese
Pasta & Grains Lasagna
Sauces Red Wine Sauce

Awards and Accolades

  Name Vintage
Award Winner Under $15 - Robin Garr's Best Values 2007 2005
Award Winner Under $12 - Robin Garr's Best Values 2007 2003

Wine Terms

Name Value
United States Wineries exist in all fifty states, but the most predominant (and best) wine comes from Northern California, Oregon, and Washington State, with New York gaining a foothold in the industry. American wines make up about 75% of all wine sales in the US. The appellation system uses the term AVA (American Viticultural Area) to determine where wines were produced, but grape varieties can be planted anywhere in the country. American wineries generally use varietal labeling, and government regulations require that the variety on the label must make up at least 75% of the blend (in Oregon it’s 90%). The words reserve, special selection, private reserve, classic, and so on have no legal definition in the US. Some wineries use these terms to indicate their better wines; others use the words as a marketing tool to move lower quality wines off the shelf.
California California produces the majority of wine made in the United States. Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel and Pinot Noir dominate the wine production in California, but many other varietials thrive in the California climate. Many fine wines are produced in California using Mediterranean grapes.

Tasting Notes

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