1997 Storybook Mountain Vineyards Napa Estate Howell Mountain 'The Last Hurrah' Zinfandel, Napa Valley, USA 750ml

This may be the finest Zinfandel vintage that proprietor Jerry Seps has yet produced. He has been trying to build a multilayered texture into his wines, which have had a predilection to be structured and closed, yet ageworthy. Seps appears to have admirably accomplished that in 1997, producing wines with the potential to age yet having a certain accessibility. This offering is higher in alcohol than usual, with a softer texture and deep concentration. The 1997 Zinfandel Howell Mountain The Last Hurrah (this vineyard, once known as the Park-Muscatine Vineyard, is being replanted with Cabernet Sauvignon) is a backward wine, with copious amounts of the mineral/blueberry character that emerges from this terroir. A classic Zinfandel, it offers good fatness, structure, and muscle, an opaque ruby/purple color, and a sweet mid-palate. It will improve over the next several years, and keep for a decade or more.