| How is Hinzerling's '82 Cab doing? |
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Published Friday, December 15th, 2006 Q. After my father passed away in 1998, my brothers and I split up his wine cellar with help from friends who claimed that they "know wine." While I have been enjoying many of the French wines that made up the majority of my father's collection, I do have several bottles of a Hinzerling 1982 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. It seems my father bought several cases of this, so my brothers and I each have a full case. Unfortunately, I cannot locate any information about this wine. I'd like to donate it to a local nonprofit for an auction/dinner, but I'd like to know if this is a "good" wine. Do you know anything about this label? A. Hinzerling is one of Washington's oldest wineries, founded by Mike Wallace of Prosser in 1976 with help from his parents. It produced its first vintage in 1977 and has been crafting wines ever since. Here's what the Web site, hinzerling.com, says about it: "Established in 1976 by the Wallace family, the winery specializes in small lots of high-quality, hand-crafted table and dessert wines from both red and white grapes. Located in the center of Prosser, Wash., on the corner of Wine Country Road and Sheridan Avenue, the winery welcomes visitors into its working cellar for tastings where a family member is often on hand to pour samples and answer questions. The Vintner's Inn is our B&B Restaurant and Wine Bar right next to the winery." Mike Wallace remembers his 1982 reserve quite well. He tasted this very wine in mid-September at a library tasting, "and that wine was one of the big hits. "I probably have more of that wine in my own personal cellar than any other," he added. "It's very drinkable now. It has distinct blackberry and mint flavors, and its color is still in the red range, not brick or amber." Overall, the 1982 vintage was very good but not stellar. 1983 was the stunning year of the 1980s, but 1982s have held up well. I drank my last bottle of 1982 Woodward Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon about three years ago, and it was still quite good. If your case of wine has been stored properly, you have an excellent 24-year-old red wine from the early years of Washington's wine industry made by a pioneer winemaker. I know of only four other wineries that were operating in Washington then: Chateau Ste. Michelle, which made its wines in Sunnyside, Preston Premium Wines of Pasco, Associated Vintners (now Columbia Winery) and Bingen Wine Cellars in White Salmon, which has since closed. I'd advise that someone in the family pull a cork and see what you have - and try to arrange the tasting in the company of a wine buff who really knows wines. Or possibly you know a sommelier at an area restaurant whose judgment you respect. Some friends of mine who were preparing to donate Leonetti Cellar and Woodward Canyon wines from the 1980s and 1990s to a charity auction recently arranged for Angelo Tavernaro, a former Las Vegas master sommelier who lives in Prosser, Wash., to evaluate their cache. It appears your father was a knowledgeable wine collector who thought enough of this wine to buy several cases. He must have found something in it he liked. As for value, Hinzerling is not a "cult" wine like Leonetti or Woodward Canyon, but this wine likely has very respectable value. Wallace said something in the $100 range would be a reasonable price expectation, and from my experience, auction prices could be much higher. I recently saw a Leonetti vertical of Cabernet Sauvignon from the early 1990s to 2003 vintages sell for about $240 per bottle at a charity auction. Early in 2006, I donated a mid-1980s bottle of Woodward Canyon Cab to a charitable auction. I was stunned and pleased that it sold for $400. Your wine's age will make it something of a rare curiosity that might strongly appeal to someone at an auction. But before you donate it, arrange for someone to evaluate its condition. You don't want to embarrass the charity or yourself if improper storage has affected it. Wine Words: malolactic fermentation Wine Press Northwest Editor-in-Chief Andy Perdue and I recently were discussing the jargon of the wine world that oenophiles (a fancy word meaning wine lover, derived from the Greek) utter with total nonchalance and occasionally parrot with less than total knowledge. Our chat resulted in a new feature for this column, Wine Words. If you'd like a better explanation of some term you've heard, I'll do my best to research, define and explain it. Send it to my e-mail listed below. Andy suggested this edition's phrase - malolactic fermentation - noting that now's the time those lovely Northwest red wines and many Chardonnays are undergoing it. So, here's what it's all about. Even ripe grapes contain a rather large amount of malic acid, a "hard" acid often associated with apples. (The Latin word for apple is malum.) During the raft of chemical changes that happen as wine ferments, malic acid is converted into the softer lactic acid and carbonic gas. (Yes, lactic acid is also what makes milk taste sour.) Malolactic fermentation is desirable for red wines and full-bodied, lush, complex whites. But if you want a crisp, light white or a brut-style sparkling wine, it's to be avoided. By Ken Robertson, Wine Press Northwest
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