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.

 

Zinfandel
Tasted a few new Zins last week:
Rosenblum Redwood Valley RhodesVineyard/Annette's Reserve Zinfandel (Alc:14.9%) '95: Some dusty/tomatoy/Mendocina Zin spicy/raspberry light oaked nose; tart spicy/ tomatoy/dusty/raspberry light oak flavor; long dusty/tomatoy/spicy raspberry finish w/ light tannins; on the light side but an attractive Zin w/ good Mendocino character; overpriced at $18.00
Rosenblum SonomaValley Cullinane Vineyard Zinfandel (14.8%) '95: Strong licoricy/monty/ menthol/oaked dusty/old vines some blackberry nose; soft fairly rich lush blackberry/menthol dusty ripe flavor; very long dusty/old vines menthol/ oaked light blackberry finish w/ light tannins; lots of menthol/oak & lots of blackberry but not much richness or extract; overpriced at $24
Rosenblum NapaValley Zinfandel (13.7%) '95: Attractive spicy/raspberry vanilla/ fragrant slight licorice/pungent nose; tart light bit washed-out spicy/ raspberry slight milky/oaked flavor; med.short very vanilla/oaked light simple raspberry slight pungent finish w/ light tannins; rather oaked & a bit on the weak side; an attractive simple spicy Zin for current drinking; overpriced at $22.
Ridge California Zinfandel York Creek (14.5%) '95: Med.dark color; slight stinky/fumey nose clears to pungent/licorice dusty/earthy oaked some blackberry nose; soft rich licorice/pungent oaked/dusty/earthy light blackberry flavor; long pungent/dusty/earthy light blackberry some milky/oaked finish w/ fair tannins needs 3-7 yrs; rather atypical of York Creek & more like Geyserville or Howell Mtn Zin; a pretty big deep Zin.
Newlan Vineyards Napa Valley Zinfandel (13.5%) '95: Med.color; fragrant very spicy/raspberry some toasty/oaked nose; soft blackberry/pungent/toasty oak bit charred flavor; med.long some pungent/charred oak earthy dusty low fruit finish w/ some tannins; a bit short on fruit & not as big & rich as the '94.
NewlanVineyards Napa Valley Zinfandel (13.5%) '94: Dark color; slight wet dog fur rather pungent toasted oaked ripe blackberry dusty nose; soft pungent charred/toasty oaked dusty/earthy some blackberry flavor; med.long pungent toasty dusty earthy light blackberry finish w/ some tannins; needs another yr or two; a fairly big rich Howell Mtn type of Zin.
Buehler NapaValley Zinfandel Estate (13.5%) '95: Med.dark color; deep blackberry/ raspberry lovely minty/menthol oaked some dusty nose; soft smooth balanced menthol/minty spict raspberry/blackberry lush flavor; long fragrant raspberry minty/menthol/pencilly oaked dusty complex finish w/ some tannins; a lovely balanced polished elegant Zin; best Buehler Zin since the '81; rather overpriced at $26.
Joel Butler Howell Mountain Beatty Ranch Napa Valley Zinfandel (15.4%) '92: Very dark near black color; rather stinky/sewer gas/wet dog fur nose clears to pungent/ dusty old vines earthy smokey light boysenberry some pencilly/oaked nose; soft pungent/smokey/dusty/earthy/toasty some blackberry flavor; med.long pungent dusty earthy smokey blackberry rather rough/tannic finish; needs much age; has a softness that tastes a bit like second crop Zin; a big rough rustic classic HowellMtn Zin; should be a good one.
Ridge California Geyserville (14.2%) '95: Very dark color; beautiful spicy complex cinammon&cloves bit milky/oaked rich raspberry/blackberry dusty old vines nose; rich smooth complex balanced dusty old vines ripe blackberry/boysen- berry oaked flavor; very long complex cinammon&cloves dusty old vines smokey ripe blackberry finish w/ some tannins; not a blockbuster Zin but a beautiful complex wine w/ lots of things going on in it; best Geyserville in some time; very well-made & should last.
Peachy Canyon Paso Robles Zinfandel Westside (15.2%) '95: Med.dark color; strong PR jammy/blackberry/black cherry slight stemmy nose; soft fat PR/jammy black- berry ripe bit thin/hot flavor; med.long very blackberry/jammy PR finish w/ light tannins; a bit simple & thin w/ lots of jammy PR character, a bit disappointing for the $19.
Peachy Canyon Paso Robles Zin Dusi Ranch (14.6%) '95: Med.dark color; some blackberry/jammy fragrant more dusty/old vines ripe nose; soft dusty/old vines ripe strong blackberry/spicy some jammy flavor; long very dusty/old vines spicy/blackberry finish w/ light tannins; lots of that Dusi old vines character but a bit light for P.C.; pricey at $24.
Peachy Canyon Paso Robles Zin Old Bailey Ranch (14.6%) '95: Med.dark color; light dusty less jammy ripe blackberry/boysenberry very spicy nose; soft more boysenberry/blackberry quite spicy some dusty/old vines flavor; med.long blackberry/boysenberry/spicy some dusty finish w/ light tannins; the most interesting of the P.C.; overpriced at $24.50
Ridge California Zinfandel Pagani Ranch Late Picked (15.2%) '95: Very dark color; intense blackberry/boysenberry/black cherry cola bit jammy some Am.oaked nose; soft rich mouthfilling pungent/licorice dusty old vines complex boysenberry/black cherry cola milky/Am.oaked flavor; very long bit hot/ alcoholic very dusty/old vines strong Am.oaked very ripe blackberry/boysen- berry finish w/ some tannins; needs 3-7 yrs; a big rich ripe extracted Zin that's not pushed over the edge.
Ridge California Zinfandel Alegria Late Picked (15.7%) '95: Near black color; rather strong milky/Am.oaked intense jammy/blackberry/boysenberry/black cherry cough syrup smokey very ripe nose; bit hot/alcoholic very ripe jammy/black- berry/cola dusty old vines licorice/pungent/smokey flavor; very long dusty old vines jammy/boysenberry/blackberry/black cherry cola milky Am.oaked rather tannnic finish; needs 4-10 yrs; a big huge very ripe Zin; a trip down Nostalgia Lane... like the Ridges of old.

And from the bloody pulpit:
The Joel Butler Zin was made by Joel Butler, M.W., who was in charge of wine at Prima in Walnut Creek. Although a home-made wine, it's hardly what you would call an amateur wine. It really shows that dusty/Howell Mtn character that makes those wines rather unattractive in their youth but really outstanding with some age. Sure wish Ridge still made HowellMtn Zin.
The Peachy Cnyns were a bit disappointing. Lots of the PR/jammy fruit but they didn't seem to have the structure or tannins of the previous few yrs. Nicely done, interesting wines.... but just that.
Ahhhhhh... the Ridges. I was pretty underwhelmed by them at ZAP last Jan, found them rather on the simple & light side. Amazing how wonderfully they've come together in the bottle. Maybe Draper knows something about making Zin after all!! The York Creek was one I really liked; perhaps the best since the '76 LatePicked. They tend to be pretty bright up-front raspberry type of Zins. The '95 is rather atypical, more like a Howell Mtn Zin. Good stuff. And the Geyserville.... best one in a number of yrs. Sometimes Geyserville can have a bit of funkiness/earthy character to it that makes it quite distinctive (the Ch. Beaucastel of Calif Zin perhaps??) and a bit Rhonish in character. Difinitely not a blockbuster of a Zin; but extremely well- balanced, extemely well-made, absolutely delicious drinking wine. And the Pagani Ranch is another killer. Although it has a fair amount of oak, that complex Pagani fruit really comes thru. Unlike the St.Francis, which I find just simply too over-oaked. This is one great vnyd.