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.

 

A Few (mostly) New Zinfandels
Tasted a few new (mostly) Zins this week:
Rabbit Ridge California Nebbiolo Barrique Riserva (Alc: 13.5%) '94: Med.dark color; bit dusty/tarry/pungent/spicy some fragrant oaked slight unclean/ bretty nose; soft rich tarry/dusty/oaked some licorice/pungent bit astringent flavors; short lush licorice/pungent bit tarry/smokey slight bretty finish w/ some tannins & ample oak; a bit hard & overoaked but an interesting pungent wine w/ some Nebbiolo character; the richness indicates that this is probably not Nebbiolo Fino but the Piedmonte clones either Lampia or Michet; the label says Cellared & Bttld by... wonder where they got the wine?? Trentadue?? Too clean for a Trentadue wine!
Rabbit Ridge Sonoma County Avventura Reserve RW Migliore di Vigneto (Sangiovese Merlot, CS; 13.4%) '94: Deep herbal Cab/dusty oaked nose; soft rather herbal/ oaked light dusty flavor; long pretty herbal/dusty finish w/ some tannins; needs a yr or two; dominated by the Cab & no obvious Sangiovese character; a nice Cab but just that.
Dry Creek Vineyard Sonoma County Reserve Zinfandel (13.5%) '94: Strong pungent/licorice/ dusty blackberry Am.oaked nose; rich very spicy bright raspberry/Zinberry/ Am.oaked/dusty old vines flavor; very long very buttery very spicy raspberry Zinberry oaked finish w/ light tannins; needs yr or two; far better than the DCV Reserve '93; best DCV Zin since the '90 Reserve.
Pezzi-King Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel (EB; 14.9%) '95: Bright very spicy raspberry/ Zinberry light pungent/oaked licorice/dusty nose; bit hot very spicy bright raspberry light licorice/pungent/oaked flavor; very long very spicy ripe Zinberry blackberry oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; very nicely done elegant stylish Zin w/ a slight hotness.
Nalle Sonoma County Dry CreekValley Zinfandel (13.5%) '94: Fragrant aromatic very spicy Zinberry light pungent/pencilly oaked nose; soft lush bit pungent black pepper spicy Zinberry slight funky/horsecollar flavor; long pungent oaked bright spicy Zinberry slight horsecollar finish w/ light tannins.
Nalle Sonoma County Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel (13.5%) '95: Deeper richer more aromatic dusty/ blackberry Zinberry light pencilly/oaked nose; tart much richer deeper aromatic/perfumed spicy blackberry/Zinberry dusty light pencilly flavor; very long lingering tart aromatic spicy Zinberry/blackberry bit dusty some tannic finish; loads of bright/lush fruit and one word says it all:balance.
Rabbit Ridge Sonoma County Winemaker's Grand Reserve Zinfandel (13.8%) '95: Dark color; lovely fragrant aromatic pencilly/Fr.oaked light deep blackberry nose; tart spicy very strong pencilly/Fr.oaked dusty old vines light blackberry/ complex flavor; very long tart very spicy/blackberry dusty very strong pencilly/cedary/oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; not that much fruit & loaded w/ Fr.oak; an interesting Zin @ a stupid price $27.00 This wine has gotten a lot of glowing comments & raves on the 'Net; I thought it was pretty good but a bit overoaked & much preferred the OVZ Reserve (old San Lorenzo vnyd) for have more fruit & extract.
Gundlach Bundschu Sonoma Valley Morse Vineyard Zinfandel (15.0%) '95: A new vnyd- designate for GunBun; med.dark color; very strong Am.oaked lush ripe black- berry black cherry nose; soft fat rich lush blackberry/black cherry loads of Am.oak flavor; med.long soft fat lush blackberry/black cherry cola very strong Am.oaked finish w/ light tannins; a typical GunBun soft fat porky Zin loaded w/ Am.oak & lush fruit; would like a bit more tannins & structure; a Pillsbury Doughboy wine at a very good price. $12.00
Rosenblum Cellars Alexander Valley Harris-Krapka Vineyard Zinfandel (14.9%) '95: Med.color; classic Rosenblum lush spicy cherry/raspberry light oaked nose; soft very lush ripe cherry/raspberry spicy bit dusty light oaked flavor; med.long bright lush ripe forward raspberry/cherry finish w/ light tannins; a very nice drinkable classic Rosenblum/lush Zin w/ that typical AlexVlly softness; a step above the ContraCosta & PasoRobles versions but just that; not worth the $20.00.
Scherer Vineyard Alexader Valley Old & Mature Vines (14.5%) Zin '95: Very dark color; deep smokey/toasty pungent ripe blackberry dusty old vines nose; soft fat bit flat ripe blackberry dusty old vines Dr.Pepper toasty pungent oaked flavor; long soft fat blackberry ripe toasty oaked black cherry cola/Dr. Pepper finish w/ light tannins; a lovely nose but a bit too soft & fat on the palate; would like more tannins & structure.
Rosenblum Cellars Contra Costa County Continente Vineyard Old Old Vine (14.4%) Zin '95 Med.dark color; deep plummy earthy mushroomy CC Zin smokey lush nose; tart ripe black cherry/plummy dusty licorice lush Rosenblum flavor; long tart brigt plummy/ContraCosta dusty old vines earthy some buttery oaked finish w/ light tannins; lots of fruit & brightness for CC Zin.
Rosenblum Cellars Contra Costa Reserve Pato Vineyard (13.3%) Zin '95: Dark color; lovely deep pungent plummy licorice smokey black cherry intense nose; soft fat plummy lush deep pungent ripe licorice/blackberry CC flavor; very long soft fat very plummy/black cherry licorice pungent very ripe finish w/ some tannins; needs yr or two; a big ripe plummy Zin; much like his Samsel Zin but w/ that ContrCosta plumminess; one of the best CC Zins yet made.
Edmeades Vineyards Mendocino Ciapusci Vineyard (14.4%) Zin '94: Med.color; fragrant spicy Fr.oaked black pepper dusty old vines blackberry complex nose; soft very pencilly oaked very strong cracked black pepper some lush blackberry flavor; long soft very black pepper pungent/pencilly Fr.oaked dusty finish w/ light tannins; lots of Fr.oak & black pepper character; a very interesting Zin w/ good Mendocino character but just short of something. Stupid @ $22.00.
Sobon Estate California Shenandoah Valley Rocky Top Vineyard (13.5%) Zin '95: Dark color; very strong musty/corked slight blackberry nose; soft fat very musty/ corked/ bit dishwater flavor; med.short dusty light blackberry earthy very corked finish w/ light tannins; very corked but doesn't seem like much under all the mustiness; try again.
Tobin James Paso Robles Deep Purple Zinfandel (13.3%) '95: Med.color; classic PR blackberry jammy rich ripe aromatic nose; tart ripe lush very blackberry jammy very spicy aromatic light oaked flavor; lung lush ripe blackberry jammy classic PR Zin finish w/ light tannins; a classic striaght-up jammy PR Zin; good drinking @ a good price. $12.60
Cotturri Sonoma Valley Philip Cotturi Family Vineyard (15.8%) Zin '95: Black color; slightly volatile/fumey pungent/bretty/unclean/funky dusty old vines licorice/chalky/chocolaty very ripe/medicinal/milk of magnesia nose; slightly sweet (1.5% rs??) very pungent charred oak tarry burnt roasted blackberry chocolaty milk of magnesia flavor; long very pungent charred toasty roasted smokey very ripe blackberry milk of magnesia finish w/ fair tannins, needs some 2-5 yrs of age but problematic; classic Cotturi very funky/eccentric/ weird Zin; a wine over-the-top & off-scale; the descriptors don't sound so hot but I really liked this wine for its bizarreness.

And from the bully pulpit:
The Nalle Zins: I've always liked Doug Nalle's Zins from the very first. They're not big blockbuster extracted type of Zins, the style I usually prefer, but they are just soooooo nice drinking wines. Thet are, to me, the classic definition of what I call Zinberry... a sorta shade of raspberry/ blackberry character. They always have a fragrance & aromaticity to them much like what I often find in great RedBurgs. A few of his early ones in the mid-'80's had a slight brett to them; since then I've not seen that at all. A recent note described the '94 as too bretty to drink. I did not find that in this bottle; a bit of pungent/funkiness that I'd not ever seen in this wine, perhaps it was brett, but sure not very strong to me. To me, Doug's Zins are the epitome of "balance" in a wine, everything just seems to be in the right proportion, nothing overdone or out of whack. Although Doug scoffs at aging his wines, I've had some of his very first ones and they're doing just fine, thank you. And the labels are always a great read. A great guy making terrific Zins.
So what about the '95 vintage??? Everything I've seen thus far indicates it to be an outstanding vintage for Zin. Most of the wines from a specific producer seems to have been a noticible step up from their '94's; can't recall any that have gone clunk in the night, even the Ridge's, contrary to some other opinions. Of the terrific string of '90-'95 vintages, I would label the '91's as best. They seemed to be more tannic & structured & restrained than any of the others. The '95 I would label as second; much like the '90 vintage w/ loads of lush ripe fruit. If anything, the '95's may be lacking in the tannins & structure than I would like to see. How much of that is due to the vintage, how much due to winemaking stylistic choices, and how much due to yields being pushed because of the hot Zin market??? I'm, as usual, totally clueless!!
The prices??? Getting really stupid. Which is why I'm buying fewer & fewer Zins nowadays. It's crazy to spend $27 for the RabbitRidge Grand Reserve (as one, and not the most egregious, example, at that) when you can get a variety of very good to very great Calif Syrahs in the $13-$22 price range.