KLINKER BRICK | 1850° | Lodi | 2014
cabernet sauvignon | petite sirah | primitivo

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Today we are are going to review a wine blend from California‘s famous Lodi sub-region, that we were eager to taste for quite some time – 1850° Lodi 2015 by Klinker Brick Winery. This wine is a blend of three main red grape varieties of the Lodi AVA: 60% cabernet sauvignon, 30% petite sirah and 10% old vine primitivo (also known as zinfandel in the USA), where cabernet sauvignon forms the wine’s main body and structure, petite sirah is all about up-front richness, bringing in those famous violets and blue fruits flavors, whereas zinfandel adds more muscles and delivers a more dynamic finish. This wine is the winemaker’s flagship blend and its name is a tribute to clinker bricks, on which Lodi build its reputation before the wine industry boom, therefore 1850° is the temperature at which a Klinker Brick is fired. The grapes for this wine were sourced from the Mokelumne River vineyards of the Lodi AVA (California, USA) and, in order to add extra complexity and indigenous identity to the final blend, the wine has been aged only in american oak barrels. But enough with all that theory, that said and without further ado, let’s take a look at the wine tasting results.
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

//Visual
colour: deep & noble garnet color
clarity: hazy garnet shades on the rim

//Olfactory
intensity: pronounced & expressive
fruit profile: black fruits | dried fruits
__black fruits: black cherry | black plum | blackcurrant | blackberry | aronia berry
__dried fruits: dried black plum | dried black cherry
fruit character: ripe & overripe

//Flavor
non fruit: floral | spice | oak | earth | other
__floral: hints of violets & lavender
__spice: cloves | nutmeg | anise | tonka seeds
__oak: roasted oakwood | sweet tobacco | liquorice
__earth: charcoal | graphite | slate | granite
__other: mint | thyme
primary layer: fruit

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: medium+
alcohol: high
tannin: high
__grip: ripe & seedy
balance: good
__dominant: alcohol
body: firm | full body

//Taste
fruit profile: black fruits
fruit character: ripe & overripe
non fruit: spice & oak
finish: long
aftertaste: crisp & seedy

//Scoring
KLINKER BRICK | 1850° | Lodi | 2014
variety: cabernet sauvignon | petite sirah | primitivo
country: USA
region: California | Lodi
rating: 94.7

//Conclusion
maturity: in its prime | drink now or within the next 2-3 years
verdict: great | a must try wine

//Prediction
predicted RP rating: 91+

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This is definitely a great wine of USA and, with a total of 94.7 points scored, this wine is right there, among the best wines we’ve rated so far. Check our complete database on the wine rating page, where you can find all the wines that we have tasted and reviewed or go to the about us page and find out more about our exquisite rating system.

Verdict: this is a textbook, new-world wine blend – definitely one of the best we’ve tasted so far: bold, firm and extracted, with an expressive, fruit-forward nose and an ripe, rich and full-bodied palate. The wine is right there, at the peak of its prime form, thus we would recommend to drink it sooner rather than later, preferably within the next 2 or 3 years, as it is always better to drink a wine a year too soon than a day too late. On the nose the wine displays a mixture of ripe and overripe black in the foreground, supported by a nuanced, spicy-oaky background and a very subtle, floral-earthy layer in between the two. On the palate the wine delivers crisp acidity, ripe and seedy tannins and quite a touch of alcoholic warmth, that is showing through on the mouthfeel, which leads to a seedy-crisp aftertaste. All in all this is a very nuanced, fruit-driven and grippy wine blend, vinified in a clear cut, american style – a real crowd-pleaser of a wine. We believe it will pair lovely with grilled meats, like for example a grilled T-bone steak, a marinated flank steak or a classic fillet mignon steak. Cheers!

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