by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

 

New Zinfandels
Tasted some new Zins last night:
Steele Mendocino Pacini Vineyard Zinfandel (13% alc) '95: Spicy blackberry raw meat tomatoey Mendocino Zin some oaked nose; tart bit lean spicy slight chalky bright ripe blackbery flavor; med.long bit astringent/chalky very spicy raspberry dusty finish w/ light tannins; a beautiful spicy nose but a bit lean on the palate.
Steele Clear Lake Catfish Vineyard Zinfandel (13%) '95: Beautiful lush very spicy blackberry licirice fennel nose; soft ripe lush blackberry very spicy bit dusty/chalky light oaked flavor; very long lush blackberry ripe very spicy light pencilly oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs a yr or two; again a wonderful nose that doesn't quite deliver on the palate.
Rabbit Ridge Sonoma County Zinfandel (13.8%) '95: Attractive raspberry spicy light Am. oak nose; soft spicy clean pleasant raspberry light oak flavor; med.long clean raspberry/Zinberry light oaked finish w/ little tannins; a nicely done straightforward good drink DryCreekVlly Zin. Great price of $9.60
Rabbit Ridge Russian River Valley Estate Reserve Rabbit Ridge Ranch Zinfandel (13.8%) '95: Deep dusty old vines lush boysenberry/blackberry some pencilly Fr.oaked nose; rich deep dusty old vines boysenberry/blackberry spicy sausage pencilly/ milky oaked flavor; very long lingering boysenberry/blackberry pencilly oak finish w/ some tannins; needs a yr or two; wonderful dusty old vines character; much like the Rosenblum Samsul/Maggie's Reserve Zin; beautiful balance on this wine, extremely well-made.
Rosenblum Contra Costa County Zinfandel (13.8%) '95: Fragrant ripe raspberry light plummy/earthy nose; soft light fruity/raspberry light plummy flavor; med.long tart spicy raspberry bright light plummy finish w/ little tannins; nice drinking pleasant forward fruity Zin; speaks more Rosenblum style than ContraCosta. $14.00
Cline Contra Costa County Ancient Vines Zinfandel (14%) '95: Deep plummy/dusty old vines boysenberry some menthol/oaked nose; soft rich plummy dusty old vines/ earthy licorice/boysenberry menthol oaked flavors; long dusty old vines/ boysenberry earthy menthol oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; classic dusty/plummy ContraCosta Zin; very well-made.
Rosenblum Paso Robles Sauret Vineyard Zinfandel (13.9%) '95: Strong floral/carnations cinammon lush aromatic raspberry nose; tart spicy lush cinammon/floral clean fruity/raspberry light oaked flavor; med.short spicy/floral/cinammon bright clean raspberry finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant drinkable restaurant Zin; little PasoRobles and more Rosenblum lush style. $16.00
Eberle Paso Robles Sauret Vineyard Zinfandel (14.8%) '95: Very dark color; intense aromatic blackberry/cloves/licorice very spicy slight jammy nose; big ripe lush licorice/blackberry cinammon/cloves oaked fragrant flavor; very long ripe lush very spicy blackberry/licorice cinammon/oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs a yr or two; a big rich ripe lush Zin but little jamminess or overripe character despite the 16% alc.
Sierra Vista El Dorado Zinfandel (14.1%) '95: Dusty/earthy/smokey some blackberry oaked nose; hard dusty/earthy light blackberry fruit oaked/menthol tannic flavor; long tannic menthol/oaked rather dusty/earthy light blackberry slight funky/bretty finish w/ fair tannins; needs several yrs; lots of that dusty/earthy ElDorado character; a rather old-style rough & rustic Zin; good value at $12.00.
Carmenet Delta Zinfandel Evangelho Vineyard Contra Costa County Zinfandel (13%) '95: Strong pencilly Fr.oaked plummy/earthy bit dusty nose; soft minty/menthol/pencilly Fr.oaked some spicy/plummy/earthy flavor; med.long minty/pencilly oaked light plummy/earthy finish w/ light tannins; a bit like the hippos dancing ballet in Fantasia; well-made but overpriced at $17.50.
Cline Contra Costa Cnty Live Oak Vineyard Zinfandel (14%) '95: Deep plummy/dusty old vines menthol/pencilly oaked some boysenberry nose; rich tannic dusty old vines menthol/oaked mushroomy/complex flavor; long menthol/oaked some tannic rather plummy/dusty finish; loads of ContraCosta character and lots of menthol oak; the lightest of these three Clines but hardly a light Zin.
Cline Contra Costa County Big Break Vineyard Zinfandel (14%) '95: Very much the same dusty/plummy Zin overlain w/ menthol/oak; the biggest & richest of these three Clines.
Cline Contra Costa County Bridge Head Vineyard Zinfandel (14%) '95: Same story but closer to the BigBreak than the LiveOak.
Rosenblum Sonoma County Old Vines Zinfandel (13.8%) '95: Med.color; bright lush spicy forward raspberry/blackberry slight pencilly oaked nose; soft rather light spicy raspberry/blackberry/Zinberry lush fruit light oaked flavor; med. soft spicy lush raspberry light oaked finish w/ light tannins; a nice drinking forward lush ready-to-go Zin. Overpriced at $19.50.
Ravenswood Napa Valley Zinfandel (14.2%) '95: Deep blackberry/graphite/ozone (don't ask!!) slight volatile bit Ravenswood/funky some menthol oaked nose; tart rich spicy blackberry/raspberry funky/menthol oaked flavor; long menthol oaked/blackberry dusty very spicy slight herbal finish w/ some tannins; needs a yr or two; by far the best Ravenswood Zin of this level (Napa/Sonoma/Alex Vlly appellations) in a fair number of yrs. Good value at $14.30.

Some off-the-wall opinionated rantings in my curmudgeonly mode:
The Clines were very impressive. I've been following the Cline wines from the very start and was prepared to dislike these '95's because of the prices. Couldn't do it; they are good. They display a lot of the very interesting plummy/dusty character of ContraCosta; it come thru load & clear. The early Cline Zins I did not care much for; I found them coarse & rustic & very soft underacid mushy flabby on the palate, The last 3 Cline vintages have shown nothing but continual improvement, more & more competent winemaking. These '95's are their best yet. They have a $38 bottling (Jacuzzi or some such) coming out that, at ZAP, I didn't think was as good as these, but try it when it's released, if you can bear the $$$$'s.
The Eberle Zin was easily Gary's best yet. His '89 was a real fruit bomb, but didn't quite deliver in the mouth (actually, it still is tasting very good & not about to fall apart). The intervening ones had plenty of fruit overlain w/ that Eberle cinammon/cloves oak. This one has enormous fruit & toned down a bit on the oak, great structure for aging; a dynamite wine. Many of the PasoRobles Zins from the west side (which is where Sauret is located) often have an overripe blackberry jammy quality to them w/ a sorta soft underbelly. Gary's always seem to have loads of fruit but w/o that overripe character & retain lots of structure. This '95 says 14.8% alc... take that w/ a grain of salt!
The Rosenblums.... the ContraCosta and PasoRobles were always a big step above his Vintner's Cuvee. That big step seems to be shrinking a bit. These '95's are very forward & drinkable, good restaurant wines, but just that. The Sonoma Old Vines has often been, in the past, pretty serious stuff, nearly as good as the single vnyd stuff. This '95 seems more for the restaurant folks.
Liked the Steele Zins quite a bit. The previous ones seemed to me a bit overdone on the toasty French oak, more like his Pinots than real Zins. These '95's are much better in that regard, the Zin fruit really comes out; wonderfully aromatic perfumy noses; but a bit lean on the palate; but his best Zins yet. But still nowhere near the marvelous wines he once made up at Edmeades.... when real men drank Zin & whimps RedBurgundy!!
I have serious doubts for the future of the Zin market in Calif. Back in the good old days, we Zinfanatics used to smirk & snicker as all the lemming-types were spending $20-$40/btl for their prestige Cabernets and we were quietly drinking our great Zins at 1/2 to 1/4th the price. That self-satisfied attitude that we "knew" more than all the rest of the wine consuming public led to a small but very passionate band of Zin nuts. And there was a handful of winemakers that also loved Zin & courted that market, people like Paul Draper, Barney Fetzer, David Bruce, Joe Swan, etc. Alas, those days seem gone. As the '95's come out, we're seeing some real sticker shock. Zinfandel has been annoited but all the wine publications as the latest "hot" varietal from Calif. Producers are getting into the market because Zin is "hot". So now most great Zins are in the $20-$30/btl range, going up to $50/btl. You can get some awfully good Cabs and Pinots for less than those prices. Wines that will probably last a whole lot longer than the Zins. Despite as good as the '95's Zins coming out are, I find fewer & fewer that I want to buy. Instead, I'm snarfing up more & more Syrahs and Rhone- style blends. The Qupe BienNacido Reseve at less than $20/btls is a steal, and great wine to boot, and will age quite awhile. The Ojais are equally good. Just don't make sense... why do things gotta change!!
TomHill.... signing off in a cranky mood