Orin Swift Eight Years in the Desert 2018
- 94
- $100
- Drink by: 2021 - 2031
Share
Zinfandel was one of the first varieties that winemaker Dave Phinney cut his teeth on. After starting with it in 1998, Phinney created a brand which he eventually sold, agreeing not to make another zin for the next eight years. Then in 2016 he started to dabble with it once more. This is a blend of concentrated zinfandel, petite sirah, syrah and grenache which provides an idea of the opulence and fruit intensity. Strangely though, and with all that alcohol, it is neither hot nor excessive. Dark liqueur chocolate aromas with a lifted slightly floral note gives it a certain elegance. Beautifully poised and balanced, it’s spicy with raspberry and cherry notes lift. This is an expertly crafted blend with dominant zinfandel that works so well.
Ray Jordan has been writing about wine for more than 40 years. His first articles were published in the early issues of national wine magazine Winestate in the late 1970s when he worked in Sydney as a newspaper correspondent. From 1989 Ray wrote more than 3000 columns as a regular newspaper wine columnist. He currently writes a regular column for the special business publication Business News and is one of the main contributors to national wine platform Wine Pilot. In 2017 Ray co-authored The Way it Was – A History of The Early Days of the Margaret River Wine Industry and previously wrote Wine in the Blood: Australia’s Family Wine Estates, published in Mandarin and English. In 2011 Ray was awarded WA Wine Press Club Jack Mann Memorial Medal for his contribution to the WA wine industry. His love of wine is as strong as his love of the blues and tasting the thousands of wines that cross his bench each year allows him to indulge in both.
