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 (mostly)
We tasted last week (4/15/98) some new (mostly) Zins:
Ridge Calif Bridge Head Mataro/Mourvedre (13.7%) '96: Med.color, fragrant buttery/ oaked plummy bit dusty/black cherry nose; soft lush plummy/dusty some oaked flavor; med.long soft plummy/light oaked mushroomy/dusty finish w/ light tannins; lots of attractive plummy/oak Mourvedre character.
Ridge Calif Mataro Evangelo Vineyard (14.7%) ATP '93: Med.dark color; beautiful/fragrant licorice/perfumy/ smokey/plummy/ dusty perfumed talc complex nose; bit tart licorice rich smooth perfumy lush wonderfully arromatic flavor; very long smooth aromatic perfumed licorice ripe lush smokey/mushroomy plummy dusty finish w/ light tannins; this wine has really developed into a marvelous/complex/smokey/licorice Mourvedre.
Steele Mendocino Pacini Vineyard Zinfandel (13%) '96: Med.color; pungent Mendocino/dusty/ tomatoey bit blackberry some fragrant/pencilly oaked nose; soft lush blackberry earthy/dusty Mendocino/tomatoey bit pencilly/smokey/oaked flavor; long very spicy blackberry very fragrant pencilly/oaked finish w/ light tannins; a classic Jed Steele pencilly/oaked Pinot-like Zin w/ some Mendocino character; ready to drink for the near term.
Steele Clear Lake CatFish Vineyard (13%) Zin '96: Med.dark color; bright cherry/spicy raspberry rather pencilly/oaked nose; tart bit lean simple bright raspberry/cherry very pencilly/oak bit thin flavor; med.short tart bit lean bright raspberry/cherry rather pencilly/oaked finish w/ some tannins; bit thin & lean but lots of bright fruit & pencilly/oak. Not worth $21.75
Ridge Calif Sonoma Station (80% Zin, 8% PS, 8% Alicante, 4% Carignan; Alc:14.4%) '96: Dark color; deep spicy/blackberry dusty some pungent/oaked nose; rich very spicy/blackberry dusty fairly complex smokey flavor; very long buttery Am.oaked dusty/old vine spicy/blackberry complex finish; classic Ridge style Zin; best Ridge Sonoma yet. Very fair price of $17.30.
Ridge Calif Lytton Springs (78% Zin, 19% PS, 2% Carignan, 1% Grenache; Alc: 14.5%) '96: Dark color; big deep very spicy fragrant/aromatic blackberry/raspberry some pungent/oak nose; soft rich very lush very spicy/blackberry dusty deep complex smokey/oak flavor; very long some tannic lush blackberry/spicy dusty/old vines some bright raspberry complex/pungent oak slight bretty/horsecollar finish; needs several yrs; more deep/blackberry/Geyserville character & less bright/raspberry character than previous LSs; best LS in several yrs.
Ridge Calif Zinfandel Paso Robles Dusi Ranch (14.6%) '96: Very dark color; deep dusty blackberry/PR spicy aromatic some oaked/pungent nose; rich spicy blackberry/dusty bit restrained slight earthy some pungent/oak flavor; long dusty/spicy rather blackberry finish w/ light tannins; less PR/jammy & more NorthCoast in character; best Ridge PR in a number of yrs.
David Bruce Paso Robles Ranchita Canyon Vineyard (13%) Zin '96: Dark color; very strong pencilly/toasty/Fr.oak dusty bit low fruit slight blackberry nose; tart loads of toasty/pencilly/Burgundian oak low fruit bit tannic some herbal/dusty flavor; long very dusty/pungent/toasty/pencilly/oaked bit herbal/walnutty finish w/ some tannins not much fruit & loaded w/ oak.
Ravenswood Lodi Zinfandel (14.3%) '96: Med.color; dusty/earthy /mushroomy rather Lodi/Zin slight smokey/oaked nose; soft dusty/earthy Lodi/Zin slight blackberry bit oaked flavor; med.long earthy/dusty bit smokey/oaked light blackberry finish w/ light tannins; pleasant Zin w/ good Lodi character; step up from the VB Zin.
Rabbit Ridge Russian River Valely Hedin Vineyard (13.8%) Zin '96: Med.color; slight herbal/ dusty/RRV mushroomy fairly volatile light blackberry nose; bit ascesant hot ripe blackberry spicy quite pencilly/oaked flavor; long bit hot/ascesant spicy raspberry/blackberry rather oaked finish w/ light tannins; seems to be getting better but not worth the $21.00.
Byrd-Cooper Napa Valley Zinfandel (14.5%; NeyersVnyd) '96: Light color; light pleasant rather fragrant/oaked light raspberry/spicy nose; soft light plesant raspberry/ toasty/oak bit earthy flavor; pleasant simple raspberry light rather pencilly/ taosty oaked finish w/ little tannins; a pleasant light simnple Zin but overpriced at $17.00
Limerick Lane Russian River Valley Collins Vineyard (14.2%; Unfined&Unfltrd) '96: Med.color; strong juicy blackberry/dusty old vines bit light slight stemmy nose; tart spicy light blackberry/juicy bit dusty some oaked flavor; long bright blackberry/ raspberry some oaked finish w/ light tannins; not as big & rich & extracted as previous versions. Overpriced at $21.00.
Eberle Paso Robles Sauret Vineyard (16.5%) Zin '96: Dark color; rich ripe blackberry/ jammy very spicy some toasty/oak bit stemmy nose; tart rich ripe blackberry/jammy dusty/old vines grapey bit stemmy/Kansas feed store (don't ask... you had to have been there!) slight pungent oaked bit astringent flavor; very long very ripe blackberry/jammy light oaked/pungent dusty/old vines slightly hot finish; not quite as big & lush as the '95. Very fairly priced at the winery at $18.00.
Ridge Calif York Creek Petite Sirah Spring Mountain (12.8%) '95: Black color; very strong peppery/pungent dusty/oak licorice smokey bit earthy nose; rather hard tannic licorice lean peppery/dusty earthy pungent spicy Am.oaked flavor; long hard tannic peppery/licorice smokey/pungent closed finish; needs 4-8 yrs; seems hard & lean & closed w/ not a lot of fruit; should develop into a very interesting PS.
Ridge Calif Zinfandel Geyserville (90% Zin, 10% PS; Alc: 13.4%; Drink: 4/90-4/91 PD) '84 Med.dark color; rather ripe briary/blackberry bit alcoholic very fragrant/aromatic spicy quite cedary/pencilly/tobaccoy very complex nose; soft ripe light blackberry pungent/licorice Italian sausage smokey light blackberry complex cedary/tobaccoy flavors; med.long complex/gamey/briary light pencilly/cedary/tobaccoy very spicy/ Italian sausage complex finish w/ light tannins; starting downhill w/ lots of old Zin/tobaccoy character but still life in the old guy yet.

And the usual deranged blatherings from the bloody pulpit:
The Ridges at ZAP were nice.... but just that. Wines that are that complex always don't show so well under such a venue. These new releases of Ridge were..... dyn-o-mite. The Sonoma Station '96 is easily the best of the simple Sonoma/ Sonoma Station Zins Ridge as done.... quite Geyserville in style. I thought the LyttonSprings was the best LS in a number of yrs... more depth & intensity & more Geyserville/ complexity & less simple /raspberry fruit than the last few. All these wines were served at a cooler temperature than they would normally be at this time of year.... maybe why they showed so well. At a warmer temperature, the Zins tend to show hot & thin.

The Geyserville '84: Well past its prime according to Paul Draper's bottle notes. This was the first yr that Ridge had really hit the comeback trail after a string of 5-6 less than thrilling vintages. Paul's very accurate on his recs on when to drink the Ridges (he's been doing it a few yrs) but they usually hang on well past his recommended peak drinkability. This '84 was starting around the bend but still an absolutely magnificant mature Zin. Hope I'm showing that well when I'm 14 Zin-yrs of age!!

The Limmerick Lane '96 was a disappointment. They previous vintages were all big ripe intense blackberry rich juicy/jammy Zins w/ lots of dusty/old vines character This was much lighter, much less extracted, much simpler than previous ones. I stopped by the tasting room on Sunday.... same conclusion. Apparently, from a retailer source/friend.... they're boosting production level significantly. I'd hate to lose an old frind like LimmerickLane.

The Eberle Sauret Zin '96 was one of my favorites at ZAP in January. It's still a favorite of the '96's we've had. Not quite the depth & richness & extract of the killer '95, a bit more hot/alcoholic.... but heaps of lush raspberry fruit. They also have a cheaper Steinbeck Vnyd Zin '96 that's awfully nice. Big guy... great wines.
The aftermath of ZAP in January was that the '96's produced lighter wines than the previous 6 vintages. Sure couldn't tell it by me!!