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 a few new Zins recently:
Tria NapaVlly Zinfamdel (13.5%) '95: Very fragrant Zinberry very spicy/aromatic light toasty/oaked nose; tart bit licorice toasty rather bright Zinberry spicy fragrant fruit flavor; long spicy bright Zinberry light licorice/ oaked finish w/ light tannins; a very nicely done bright Zinberry wine in the Nalle style; a PinotNoir of Zins.
Tria Dry CreekValley Zinfandel (14.2%) '95: Fragrant dusty/old vines deeper raspberry blackberry light toasty oaked nose; softer richer riper lusher dusty/old vines light blackberry vanilla/oaked very spicy flavor; long dusty/old vines ripe blackberry light toasty/oaked finish w/ light tannins; needs a yr or two; a fragrant aromatic blackberry Zin.
Franus NapaValley Zinfandel (13.8%) '95: Deep pungent/licorice bit smokey/Howell Mtn dusty blackberry/black cherry slight horsecollar nose; soft smooth bit sour ripe licorice/blackberry/blueberry light oaked/dusty flavor; med.long soft blackberry black cherry licorice finish w/ light tannins; a nice drink Zin at a good price.
Ravenswood Sonoma County Old Vine Zinfandel (14.5%) '95: Deep dusty blackberry oaked slight volatile nose; deep rich dusty/old vines ripe blackberry some oaked bit hot flavor; long dusty/old vines blackberry toasty/oaked finish w/ some tannins; best Ravenswood of this level (Napa/Sonoma) in a fair number of yrs; very good Zin for the price.
Lava Cap El Dorado Zinfandel Reserve (14.6%) '94: Fragrant black cherry oaked spicy aromatic slight earthy nose; soft fragrant spicy raspberry/Zinberry/cherry light oaked flavor; med.long spicy raspberry fragrant bit earthy finish w/ light tannins; unusual fragrant & raspberry for ElDorado Zin; overpriced at $24.00.
Wild Hog Sonoma Coast Zinfandel '92: Dark color; deep dusty/earthy very smokey/ pungent/toasty oaked bit H2S/fecal/stinky nose; tart sour pungent smokey charred oak blackberry/cassis intense flavor; long pungent charred/toasty oaked earthy dusty blackberry finish w/ some tannins; a big rich rustic old style Calif Zin w/ lots of charred oak; tastes of Occidental Zin.
Turley Napa Valley Aida Vineyard PetiteSyrah (13.8%) '95: Black color; closed deep dusty light peppery spicy nose; soft fat tannic/pungent/licorice bit peppery flavor; long dumb tannic closed peppery finish; needs much age; seems very closed & dumb & hard & tannic but may be a good one w/ 5-15 yrs age.
Turley Napa Valley Hayne Vineyard PetiteSyrah (14.6%) '95: Black color; intense PS/peppery dusty/licorice pungent/chocolaty nose; very intense peppery/dusty old vine/Dr.Pepper very tannic some oaked flavor; very long peppery/PS dusty old vines licorice/pungent very tannic finish; a huge highly-extracted old-timey PS that needs 10-20 yrs; lots of fruit for PS & a massive structure that may make a great wine; much like the Mt.Veeder Marston Vnyd PS '75 and the Carneros Creek Marston PS '75 (neither one of which ever came around to being good drink Petites) but w/ more acid & balance. $35.00 (ouch!)
Turley Contra Costa Duarte Vineyard Zinfandel (15.2%) '95: Classic plummy/earthy Contra Costa mushroomy some blackberry/perfumed nose; soft lush dusty/plummy CCZin light oaked flavor; long plummy bit dusty/old vines/CC some tannic/oaked finish; needs several yrs; lots of attractive CC character; doesn't seem hot & alcoholic & overripe.
Turley Napa Valley Aida Vineyard Zinfandel (16.2%) '95: Dark color; intense licorice smokey pungent bit herbal/oaked blackberry bit late harvesty nose; soft coffee/espresso pungent/smokey/toasty blackberry flavors; very long bit tannic coffee/espresso bit late harvesty oaked/pungent/smokey ripe blackberry finish; needs 2-5 yrs; a bit overripe but the alcohol not obtrusive.
Turley Howell Mountain Black-Sears Vineyard Zinfandel (16.1%) '95: Very dark color; intense blackberry/boysenberry pungent/smokey HowellMtn/dusty fragrant/oaked complex nose; hard tannic licorice/pungent/smokey HM/dusty blackberry/boysenberry ripe flavor; very long very pungent smokey oaked boysenberry HM/dusty finish w/ lots of tannins; needs 5-15 yrs; loads of ripe fruit for a HM Zin; does not seem overripe & alcoholic & hor.
Turley Napa Valley Hayne Vineyard Zinfandel (16.9%) '95: Black color; very intense blackberry/peppery/boysenberry oaked bit late harvesty nose; big ripe boysenberry/blackberry dusty/old vines very intense bit hot/alcoholic flavor very long ripe blackberry/boysenberry dusty/old vines tannic finish; needs 5-15 yrs; a bit hot but packed w/ ripe boysenberry fruit.
Turley Napa Valley Whitney-Tenessee Vineyard Zinfandel (16.5%) '95: Very dark color; intense blackberry/boysenberry/licorice/chocolaty/black cherry cough syrup some oaked nose; rich very ripe blackberry/licorice/boysenberry/cassis extracted smokey pungent bit alcoholic flavor; very long extracted black- berry/boysenberry/black cherry cough syrup finish w/ fair tannins; perhaps 5-10 yrs; lots of intense ripe fruit & a bit of alcohol but not overripe.
Turley Napa Valley Moore-Earthquake Vineyard Zinfandel (16.8%) '95: Dark color; intense bit stemmy/herbal big ripe boysenberry/blackberry slight oaked/pungent nose; off-dry ripe boysenberry/blackberry bit late harvesty/hot some pungent/ smokey flavor; very long off-dry ripe boysenberry/black cherry cough syrup pungent very ripe finish w/ some tannins; will probably age 5-20 yrs; a huge ripe off-dry extracted Zin.
Turley Napa Valley Smoot-Hawley Vineyard White Zinfandel (11.9%) '95: Pale copper/black color; fragrant cranberry/ollalaberry spicy slight chocolate-covered ants nose; light elegant delicate complex highly extracted watery gooseberry flavor; very long lingering delicate fragrant cranberry rather short finish w/ loads of tannins; needs 6 months to 40 yrs of age to come around; it's clear why this, the best of the Turley Zins, has all the critics in a dither; able to compete mano-a-mano w/ the highly praised Sutter Home; clever label crowned w/a multi-colored leaf of the Zin Bianco grape variety; the lawyers are filing (filling?) their briefs. A steal at $41.00.
Turley Dry CreekValley Grist Vineyard Zinfandel (17.3%; 1% r.s.) '95: Very dark color; intense blackberry/boysenberry very ripe bit fumey nose; very ripe chocolaty blackberry/boysenberry sweet rather hot/alcoholic/grapey bit simple flavor; very long sweet grapey/dusty old vines boysenberry some hot/alcoholic finish w/ fair tannins; a bit late harvesty & fumey but may (or may not) age.

Pontifications from the pulpit:
The Tria wines continue to impress for all the aromatics & fragrance they seem to always have. Bill Knuttle's Pinot Noir background (at Saintsbury) seems to translate well into other varieties. Not particularly big and extracted wines, they are always nice drinking & very elegant/complex/very well-made wines. A winery that's worth keeping track of.
Ahhhhhh.... the Turleys!! Because of the prices, all the hype surrounding them, the feeding frenzy in the marketplace upon their release, their not particularly impressive showing at ZAP.... I was fully prepared not to like them. Alas and alack, I did like them.... quite a lot. It seems to be the fashion to dump all over the Turley wines.... an "emperor waers no clothes" type of thing. They merely represent one style in the whole spectrum of winemaking styles to which Zinfandel is vinified. A style that I particularly am attracted to.... perhaps because I'm not particularly sensitive to alcohol levels in wine. Wether these will age into great wines is, in my mind, an open question. The consensus seems to be "no", that they should be drunk up young. It is possible, I believe, to have high alcohol levels and high extract levels and still have the balance necessary for a wine to age. Most of the 16%-17% Zins I've had tend to have a pruney/late harvesty/raisened character. These Turleys clearly don't seem to me to have that. How they get those alcohol levels w/o the raisened/pruney flavors is a mystery to me. These wines remind me a bit (but only a bit) of those David Bruce Late Harvests of the '69-'70-'71 vintage. High alcohols (up to 18%), high extractions & tannins, lots of new French oak. Some became pretty interesting wines, some never did develop into anything; the off-dry ones seemed to do the best. The Turleys strike me as more balanced, less exposure to oak, less late harvesty than the David Bruces. Those were fun to drink when they were young.... you were just salivating out the thought of what great old wines that you just KNEW they must become, and smug w/ self-satisfaction over the mother-lode of them you had stashed away in your cellar. Alas, like many old wines.... they were interesting intellectual experiences, but seldom great sensual experiences. Perhaps that will also happen w/ these Turleys. I don't think so..... but then I have plenty of old-bones and decaying fossils in my cellar that offer up mute testimony to my great ability to predict the longetivity of wines!!!
Tom Hill, no longer speaking ex-cathedra!