Cliff's Wine Picks

 

2012 Bruce Patch Take Five

2013 Bruce Patch Zinfandel Equavinity Landy Vineyard

2014 Bruce Patch Equavinity Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

2014 Bruce Patch Patchwork

2014 Bruce Patch Red Dress

2014 Bruce Patch Zinfandel Harris Kratka Vineyard

 

This is based on wines provided by the winery at no charge.

 

 

 

 

From Doo Wop to Dry Creek

 

A lot of successful winemakers grow up in the wine industry, others migrate to it based on a life changing experience.  Bruce Patch is from the latter group.  Bruce started out in the music industry.  In his past life he met the Beatles and helped to discover the famous 80s band, The Cars, who happen to be one of my favorite bands of the era.  When Bruce relocated to the west coast from his native Boston, Bruce turned his energies to several small music labels of his own and focused on classic R&B and Doo Wop artists and contemporary South Pacific music.

 

During this period, Bruce met his partner, artist Andrea Cleall, at a donut shop on the outskirts of Topanga Canyon.  When the couple moved to the Russian River Valley in the late 1990s, Bruce transitioned his sales and marketing skills into a successful distribution business representing small independent wineries in Sonoma County.  The experience he gained from these contacts led Bruce to start his own label, Wine Guerrilla.   Over the course of a decade, he built the brand and won accolades for his line-up of stellar single vineyard zinfandels.

 

Bruce doesn’t own any vineyards but the contacts he had made earlier allows him to source fruit from some of the best vineyards in Sonoma County.

 

Besides Bruce’s prized Zinfandels, he also produces wines from Primitivo, Malbec and now even a Pinot Noir.

 

Up to this point in his history, all his wines were from Sonoma County grapes but I saw he recently produced a wine using grapes from Lodi.  The future looks very bright for Bruce Patch Wines.

 

Much more information on Bruce and his wines is available on his website by clicking here.

 

 

 

The labels for Bruce’s wine feature unique artwork by Sean Colgin.  Here are the wines for this post:

 

 

 

2012 Bruce Patch Take Five – SRP $35

This is a blend of 50% Merlot, 20% Syrah, 18% Malbec, 8% Sangiovese and 4% Petit Verdot from 5 select Sonoma Valley vineyards.  The wine was aged for 30 months in French and American oak.  There were only 200 cases produced.

 

The wine is a deep, dark purple color.  The enticing nose has plums, baking spices, black cherries, tobacco, scorched earth, licorice, fresh ground espresso beans and dried flowers.  This has a full body with moderate to solid tannins and good acidity.  On the palate plums, espresso beans, baking spices and black cherries quickly grab your attention with tobacco and scorched earth coming in later.  The finish has very good length with licorice and a dried floral note providing nice depth.  This is a big bodied wine with nice fruit and savory elements all held together nicely by the tannic backbone and acidity.  No hurry on this one, it has the balance to age gracefully for several years.  This has 15.5% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.  (92 pts)

 

 

 

2013 Bruce Patch Zinfandel Equavinity Landy Vineyard – SRP $30

The Landy Vineyard occupies 23 acres in Sonoma’s Russian River Valley that lies in the warmer part of the valley.  After fermentation the wine was aged for 20 months in American oak.  The total production was only 200 cases.

 

The wine is a dark, inky purple color.  The flamboyant nose is full of brambly berries, black cherries, crushed stone minerals, dark bittersweet chocolate, plums and black pepper.  This has a full body with moderate ripe tannins and nice acidity.  On the palate waves of fruit, minerals and black pepper immediately jump out on the front end with bittersweet chocolate coming in later.  The finish has very good length with layers of fruit and peppery spice.  For such a big, full flavored wine, this has the structure and balance to last in the cellar for several years.  That said, this one would be hard to resist.  This has 15.1% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.  (92 pts)

 

 

 

2014 Bruce Patch Equavinity Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast – SRP $48

This wine is 100% Dijon clones Pinot Noir from Sonoma Coast vineyards.  The vineyards enjoyed hot days and cool nights to provide ripe fruit while maintaining good acidity.  The wine was aged for 14 months in French oak with 25% being new.  There were only 100 cases produced.

 

The wine is a bright ruby color.  The very appealing nose has black cherry, strawberry, white pepper, dried underbrush, cola, dusty minerals, dark roast coffee beans and dried wildflowers.  This has medium to full body with moderate tannins and very nice acidity.  On the palate cherries, strawberries and white pepper grab control immediately with dry underbrush, minerals and cola coming in later.  The finish has nice length with coffee beans and a dried floral note providing good depth.  This is on the young side, give it a year or two in the cellar and enjoy it over the next decade.  A pretty nice Pinot Noir from a Zinfandel guy.  I am enjoying this a bit more with every sip.  This has 14.5% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with an agglomerated cork.  (91 pts)

 

 

 

2014 Bruce Patch Patchwork – SRP $40

This is a blend of predominately Zinfandel (67%) with lesser amounts of Carignane, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot, Petite Sirah, Sangiovese and Petit Verdot.  The grapes were from the Alexander and Sonoma valleys.  After fermentation the wine was aged for 20 months in French and American oak.  The total production was a miniscule 85 cases.

 

The wine is a deep ruby color.  The big and outgoing nose has brambly berries, baking spices, charcoal, scorched earth, licorice, freshly cracked black peppercorns, black cherries, crushed stones and a hint of eucalyptus.  This has a full body with moderate ripe tannins and good acidity.  Berries, spice, scorched earth and black cherries quickly coat your palate on the front end with charcoal and black pepper coming in later.  The finish has nice length with some crushed stone minerals providing depth.  This is a big bruiser that shows nice refinement and is kept lively by the nice acidity.  This tastes great now and should hold for several years in the cellar.  This has 15.2% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.  (90 pts)

 

 

 

2014 Bruce Patch Red Dress – SRP $35

This is a blend of 63% Zinfandel, 16% Sangiovese, 10% Merlot, 7% Carignan and 4% Petite Sirah from Sonoma County.  The wine was aged for 20 months in French and American before only 90 cases were bottles.

 

The wine is a deep ruby red color.  The inviting nose has brambly berries, scorched earth, black cherries, eucalyptus, black pepper, charcoal and a hint of roasted leafy herbs.  This has medium to full body with nice acidity and moderate tannins.  On the palate dark fruit and scorched earth quickly grab your attention with black pepper and charcoal coming in later.  The finish has good length with a touch of pleasing roasted herbs providing nice depth.  This is drinking very nicely now but a year or two in the cellar will be rewarded.  This is a unique blend that works.  This has 15.1% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.  (91 pts)

 

 

 

2014 Bruce Patch Zinfandel Harris Kratka Vineyard – SRP $35

This wine is a blend of 85% Zinfandel, 10% Carignane and 5% Petite Sirah that was aged for 18 months in French and American oak.  The 17 acre Harris Kratka Vineyard is at the southern end of the Alexander Valley in Sonoma County.  There were 300 cases of this wine produced.

 

The wine is a deep maroon color.  The full throttle nose has brambly berries, dusty minerals, warm baking spices, freshly ground espresso beans, eucalyptus, black pepper, dry underbrush, dark bittersweet chocolate and dried wildflowers.  This has a full body with moderate tannins and good acidity.  On the palate brambly berries, minerals and baking spices quickly take control on the front end with espresso beans, eucalyptus and black pepper coming in later.  The nicely layered, lingering finish has dry underbrush, dark chocolate and a dried floral note providing great depth.  I’d give this one another year or two in the cellar and enjoy it over the following half dozen years.  this has 15.4% alcohol and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.  (92 pts)

 

 

 

Conclusion

These all were big boned wines that were loaded with flavor.  Even though they all taste great now, they have the structure and balance to reward some cellar time.   I highly recommend opening a bottle of one of these and serving it with something hot and juicy fresh off the grill with some Cars music playing in the background.

 

 

 

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Notes – I use the “official” Cellar Tracker name for the wines.  I use Cellar Tracker to help manage and organize my cellar.  I highly recommend checking it out at www.cellartracker.com.  Loading you existing cellar is a lot less intimidating than it would first appear.  There is a good chance 99% of your wine is already in the system, so you generally only need to enter part of the wine’s name and the system will find it for you.

 

 

Prices noted are the prices I paid at the time of purchase.  I don’t shop around to find the best prices, but always check out the sale and close out items when in a store.  Wines purchased direct from a winery do not include any shipping charges.  None of the prices include the sales tax.

 

 

All wines that were sent to me free of charge to sample will be noted and I will show suggested prices when available.

 

 

 

Cheers!