Seekers of intense, fruity and spicy California can stop the search right here, should they choose, because the Elyse Zinfandel Old Vines 2019 has it all. The wine starts with jammy raspberries, elevated spice (keep reading) and a little bit of fresh violets. Raspberries and wild red cherries galore in the taste along with ample spice: cracked black peppercorns, allspice and cinnamon stick. Big on flavor here with delineation of flavors and elegance that is hard to achieve when the flavors are turned up so high. Takes outstanding winemaking to do this and Elyse has that in spades (Russell Bevan, Ben Parodi, Reed Skupny). Shows heat on the finish when drunk sans food. I would drink this with pretty much anything but, for some reason a SBLAT comes to mind. That’s Salmon, Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado & Tomato sandwich!
