Zinfandel - mostly '99s

Notes and impressions from a Zinfandel tasting - Saturday, April 7, 2001, at the Wine Exchange in Orange, CA. Twenty-one wines were poured for a tasting fee of $18.

Overall impressions: nice flight of '99s, with a couple of decent '98s thrown in as well. Didn't really find anything spectacular, but there were some almost spectacular Zins here. My top 4 favorites were all very close, with the Elyse being the biggest bargain in the bunch. If you want a "go to" Zin for the ridiculous price of $10, get the Renwood - it's tasty and ready to go. Both Fife wines were among my favorites, with just a stylistic difference separating them in my rankings. Zoom made a couple of nice wines, as well. I wasn't impressed with either of the Russian River '99s, but the Mayo was the better of the two.

1999 Stuart Cellars Zinfandel Special Bottled Reserve - South Coast. $14.99. Medium-dark garnet color. Raspberry and boysenberry nose, with some floral and oak scents. Burnished and stemmy flavored fruit, oaky and tannic mouthfeel, with a raw earthy taste at the end.
Aroma score: B Taste score: B- Overall score: B-

1999 Brophy-Clark Zinfandel - Paso Robles . $11.99. Dark ruby color. Floral and toasty raspberry nose, with accents of mint and chocolate. Moderate mouthfeel, slightly coarse off-sweet fruit, medium-long finish.
Aroma score: B Taste score: B Overall score: B

1998 Coyote Creek Zinfandel - Westside, Paso Robles. $19.99. Medium garnet color. Nose of toasty raspberry fruit, with a bit of stem and leaf, along with a touch of cardboard. A bit coarse in mouthfeel, with kind of a granular Kool-Aid taste to the off-sweet medium-long finish.
Aroma score: B Taste score: B Overall score: B

1999 Geyser Peak Zinfandel Block Collection - De Ambrogio Ranch, Cucamonga. $21.99. Medium-dark garnet color. Ripe and burnished, the boysenberry/raspberry nose also shows a little leaf and stem. Good balance, medium-full mouthfeel, long finish.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B Overall score: B

1999 Renwood Zinfandel Sierra Series - Amador Co. $9.99. Medium garnet color. Touch of oak on this ripe and slightly burnished raspberry nose, that also seems a very old-vine-like in its aromas. Nice mouthfeel, tasty sweet fruit, very good balance, medium-long finish. It lacks a little complexity, but it's fruit-filled, and they got it right.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1999 Villa Toscano - Fox Creek Vnyd, Amador Co. $21.99. Medium garnet color. Leafy and slightly pungent nose of fruit, oak and brambles. Medium-full mouthfeel that seems slightly astringent and coarse, with moderate fruit, and a long finish.
Aroma score: B Taste score: B Overall score: B

1998 Easton Zinfandel Estate - Shenandoah Valley, Amador Co. $22.99. Medium-dark garnet color. Nose of sweet raspberry, with leaf, toast and stem background notes, along with the barest hint of petroleum. Nice sweet fruit through mid-palate, and shows a bit of tartness and oak on the backend, with a very long finish.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1999 Rosenblum Zinfandel - Continenete Vnyd, San Francisco Bay. $12.99. Medium-dark garnet color. Nice raspberry and boysenberry fruit with a lima bean/asparagus note in the background. Medium-light in body, with sweet/raisiny fruit, and a tasty medium-long finish.
Aroma score: B Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1999 Zoom Zinfandel 105 Yr Old Vines - San Francisco Bay. $19.99. Medium garnet color. Smoky, meaty and ripe fruit in the nose. Tasty sweet fruit on the palate, with a moderately full body that seems to loose some of its fruit before the long finish.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B Overall score: B

1998 Picchetti Zinfandel - Saratoga Vnyd, Santa Clara Co. $18.99. Medium dark garnet color. Ripe, Porty and somewhat burnished nose. Off-sweet fruit, medium-full mouthfeel, long finish.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B Overall score: B

1999 Zoom Zinfandel 33 Yr Old Vines - Ricetti Vnyd, Redwood Valley. $19.99. Medium-dark garnet color. Nose of buttery raspberry fruit, toast, and hints of a leafy or slight veggie quality. Sweet smooth mouthfeel, toasty raspberry fruit, nice long finish.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1999 Elyse Zinfandel - Rutherford, Napa Valley. $16.99. Medium-dark ruby garnet color. Very integrated nose of raspberry/blackberry fruit, toasty oak, and some leaf and earthy notes. Sweet smooth mouthfeel, excellent balance, tasty from beginning through latter palate, with a long finish. Somewhere I read/heard that this has been spiked with 16% Syrah.
Aroma score: A- Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1999 Green & Red Zinfandel - Chiles Mill Vnyd, Chiles Valley. $21.99. Medium-dark garnet color. Hints of leaf, brown sugar, and toast, accent the boysenberry/raspberry fruit in the nose. Tasty sweet fruit, smooth full mouthfeel, excellent balance, very long finish.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: A- Overall score: B+

1999 Lorenzo-Lake Blockheadia Rignosii - Napa Valley. $21.99. Dark ruby garnet color. Slightly grapey nose, with jammy boysenberry/blueberry fruit, that also seems a bit angular right now. Medium-full body, off-sweet fruit, and medium-long finish. Fruit seems to fall off just a bit, and picks up a slight bitter quality on the finish.
Aroma score: B Taste score: B+ Overall score: B

1999 Fife Zinfandel Old Vines - Napa Valley. $16.99. Medium ruby garnet color. Nice, somewhat lighter nose of old-vine sweet raspberry with a tinge of raisin, and smoke. Medium body, smooth buttery fruit on the palate, excellent balance, long finish. Seems a bit spare on chewiness, but makes up for it with style.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1999 Fife Zinfandel - Dalraddy Vnyd, Chiles Valley. $22.99. Medium dark ruby garnet color. Nearly the perfect blend of fruit, stem and smokiness. Chewy mouthfeel, off-sweet fruit, very long finish. The fruit gives a big blast up front on the palate, but seems to back off a bit on the finish.
Aroma score: A- Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1999 Murphy-Goode Zinfandel Liar's Dice - Sonoma Co. $12.99. Medium dark ruby garnet color. Interesting floral and somewhat perfumy nose, with candied raspberry fruit, and a wisp of petrol and Necco wafer. Moderate mouthfeel, slightly chalky raspberry fruit, good balance, long finish. Somewhat atypical, the nose is the current star here.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B Overall score: B

1999 Sapphire Hill Zinfandel - Russian River Valley. $19.99. Medium dark garnet color. Nose of slightly underripe raspberry fruit and stem, with plenty of Asian spices for complexity. Moderately light on the palate, as well as thin and acidic, decent balance, long finish. Given the color and nose, I certainly expected more from the mouth on this wine.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B Overall score: B

1999 Mayo Family Zinfandel Old Vines - Ricci Vnyd, Russian River Valley. $19.99. Medium-dark garnet color. Somewhat stemmy and possibly a bit underripe in the nose, with a nice spicy tomato note in the background. Medium-full body, with slightly stemmy fruit, and balance tilted a bit to the acid side. Long tasty finish. More body and stuffing than the Sapphire Hill RRV.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B Overall score: B

1999 Segesio Zinfandel - Home Ranch, Alexander Valley. $21.99. Dark ruby garnet color. Big beautiful nose of raspberry, toasty oak, and background of stemmy vanilla. Very nice balance, with big sweet fruit initially, that seems to drop off a bit at mid-palate, leveling out through the very long finish.
Aroma score: A- Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

1999 Rabbit Ridge Zinfandel Reserve OVZ - Sonoma Co. $24.99. Medium dark ruby garnet color. Very nice ripe raspberry and boysenberry nose. Tasty sweet ripe fruit, good balance and very long finish.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+