This week’s virtual tasting from Tom Hockel at Spring City Wine House was with Gus Gamba of Gamba Vineyards & Winery. I was so excited to see this tasting, Gamba Zinfandel has been a favorite of mine since I discovered it at Storyhill BKC. A fun way to spend a Wednesday night.
Photo credit: Spring City Wine House Facebook page
Gus truly has passion for his family’s winery and the wines. He’s the fourth generation running the winery. He was interactive and engaging, although was running through the tasting a little to fast. Gus dry farms, creates organic wine and uses native yeasts to make his wines. On to the wines we tasted…
The tasting started with the 2017 Etrusca Cecilia Chardonnay from Russian River Valley. This Chardonnay is named after Gus’s oldest daughter and was a lovely Chardonnay. Using my Riedel specific glass, this was fruit forward, not buttery or oaky. I could see pairing this with fish or seafood, even a chicken dish and the fruit would enhance the food. At $32 a bottle, I would definitely purchase this wine.
We moved on the the Paolo Pinot Noir also a 2017 from Mendocino Ridge. This was a light bodied Pinot, which I tend not to like, but the cherry showed through along with a long, smooth finish. If you like a traditional Pinot, this would be one I would recommend, at $55 it’s a little pricey, but a lovey Pinot that would pair really well with food.
Our next wine is the one that I first tried from Gamba, as I mentioned earlier. The 2017 Gamba Zinfandel, Russian River Valley, Family Ranches. This is a fully bodied Zin, but balanced, not too jammy or peppery. It is a Zin I can just drink by itself without any food or drink this with pizza, italian, grilled meat or as Gus recommended pork chops. I absolutely love this wine and purchase it all the time. For the quality of this Zin, $32 is very reasonable. Run and get this wine, you will not be disappointed if you love Zinfandel.
The fourth wine in the tasting line up was the Gamba Estate Vineyard MCM Zinfandel 2018 from the Russian River Valley. This is an old vine zinfandel and represents the 120th year of the Gamba estate. The MCM are the roman numerals that represent 1900, the year the vineyard was planted. This Zinfandel was full bodied, intense in flavor with dark fruit characteristics. The long finish on this wine definitely would pair well with food. For the quality of this wine, the $45 price tag is reasonable and on my list for purchase, at least two bottles.
The 5th wine in the tasting was the Etruscan Proprietary Red Blend 2017 from Knights Valley. This win with a Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc blend. The nose smelled of leather and contained herbs and spice on the palate. This blend is $59, it was my lease favorite of the evening. But this is what makes tasting different wine fun and interesting, you don’t know until you try it.
The final wine of the night was the Centuria 10 year old Zinfandel Dessert Wine from Russian River Valley. The wine is one of Gus’s passion projects and needs something bitter or savory to enhance the wine. I liked it by itself, but with some dark chocolate it made the wine sing in my mouth. The are few dessert wines or ports that I enjoy, this one is on my purchase list. It’s a half bottle, because a little goes a long way, you can’t drink too much of this at one time. For a dessert wine, $45 a bottle is a good price.
Next up from Tom at Spring City Wine House is hosting a Justin Vineyards & Winery Virtual tasting on August 5. In the meantime, Gary from Wine Tasting Driver/Virtual Wine Tasting is hosting a virtual wine tasting on July 31 with Smith Devereux. I’ve ordered the four bottle tasting pack and can’t wait to try more new wines. Until next time, cheers