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.

 

ZAP '98 Trip Report (and some Syrahs besides)
For the third year in a row, I ventured out to the Bay Area for the ZAP '98 tasting. This year's trip was the best one yet, by far. The trip was anchored on the front end of the week with a fantastic Rhone dinner at Bay Wolf, and on the other end by 3 days of incredibly Zinful behavior. Over the past year, I've been a bit more concentious about posting my notes to the 'Net & have met a lot of people this way in CyberSpace. The opportunity to meet many of these same people in RealSpace was one of the most rewarding aspects of this trip. Most of them didn't quite match my mental image (they're not all the Sharon Stone/Robert Redford look-alikes I envisioned... just ordinary, real people), but they were all unbelievably friendly and generous about sharing their thoughts, opinions, and their wines. So it was a great week of great food, great (and some not so great) wines; and the most special of friends. A combination that can't be beat. That's sorta what wine is all about. Probably the question most people were asking was: How's the '96 vintage shaping up for Zinfandel?? Many of the comments to the 'Net so far have pegged it as a "weak" vintage. I don't agree. The rain-besotted '89 was a "weak" vintage, the '88 vintage was a less "weak" vintage. The '96 vintage is nowhere near those vintages. I would agree that the '96 vintage, in a gross generalization, produced Zins that were less intense, less extracted, less tannic & structured, less alcoholic than the previous 6 vintages. Perhaps more of a Pinot-like vintage than previous; there were a lot of wonderfully fragrant, aromatic, perfumy Zins to be had. Perhaps more of a Nalle- style vintage than a Ravenswood-style vintage. But there were a number of producers whose wines were, I thought, stronger than their '95 versions. As is always the case, the Paul Drapers and the Joel Petersons and the Kent Rosenblums who are on top of their winemaking and don't make wine by recipe and adjust their winemaking to the condition of the grapes; all made splendid wines. So I would characterize the '96's as a Nalle or Pinot vintage, but not in any sense a "weak" vintage. As for the '97 vintage: all the winemakers I visited with were pretty ecstatic about the quality. The yields were up significantly, which usually leads to lighter, less extracted wines. But, in this case, the grapes had high sugars, intense flavors, and promise to produce great Zins. Kent Rosenblum thought the '97's may be the best vintage of the decade thus far; and he's got a bunch of '96 yet to sell. All the '97 barrel samples I tried were marvelous, luscious wines; but I'm not too perspicacious at sampling young wines and not a good judge. There is, apparently, a problem with some stuck fermentations, which can lead to wines with high VA; but winemakers know how to deal with that and most didn't seem too concerned. So, here's what went down that week. In some cases, the notes are a bit sketchy; it's tough to do 64 wines in 4 hrs & make my usual wine-geek notes. The *'s indicate wines I was particularly impressed with. Sorry, no 100 pt scores on the wines.
Saturday (1/17/98)

Up early and down to SantaFe for my usual espresso at Sage Bake House and a fencing workout with the St. John's kids. Nothing like a bit of bloodshed & mayhem on the strip to start off the day. Down to Albequerqe and an early afternoon flight out to San Jose. Once again, the epee blade flys right through airport security on my carry-on luggage when identified as a priceless platinum gamma ray interferometer transponder antennae! Usually use the plane flight to get some ZZZZ's, but had Hank Rubin's new book "Spain's Cause Was Mine" (Hank was my former editor when I wrote for Vintage Magazine and one of the best wine writers around) about his days in the Spanish Civil War, which is a fascinating read, so stayed awake the whole trip.... not smart. Get to San Jose, grab my car, and up the Freeway to Oliveto Restaurant in Rock Ridge, barely making my 5:45pm reservation time. Oliveto is one of me favorite restaurants; good hearty simple Italian peasant fare. Plus Paul Marcus wines below is a good stop. The menu:

Winter Vegetable Minestra
Pancetta-wrapped Roast Rabbit Loin with Black Cabbage Polenta: Thumper never tasted so good; a terrific dish
Winter Squash Puree
Drunken Figs with Fennel Ice Cream: a simple but very complex dessert; the ice cream with a slight anise flavor was most unusual
And the wines:
Quintarelli Ca'del Merlo '96: Med.gold color; strong grapey bit musky/earthy/ fragrant nose; soft rich full grapey bit earthy light oaked flavor; a fairly rich clean lightly oaked Italian white.
**Edmunds St.John Calif Syrah '95: Got the last half bottle from their list. Very dark color; strong pungent dusty bit toasty/oaked light blackberry nose; fairly hard tannic dusty/pungent/oaked smokey some blackberry flavor; very long dusty/pungent/smokey oaked light blackberry finish; this wine is really tasting great right now & much like a good Cornas; superb.
Once again, Oliveto doesn't disappoint; great way to start the trip. Unfortunately, my friends didn't show; so dined solo & engaged in wine-geek talk with my waiter. On over to Pleasanton and crash.
Sunday (1/18/98)

Meet up with Pleasanton friend, Rose O'Brien, a frequent biking partner from her days in Los Alamos; a lady who has saved my life 4-5 times by getting me in the habit of wearing my biking helmet. Go to early morning church service and then load up the bikes and head off to the Santa Cruz Mountains, into gathering cloudy skies, for a mountain bike ride. The grand plan was to meet Paul & Maureen Draper at Ridge Winery; follow them up Monte Bello Ridge and Black Mountain, down to the Stevens Creek Reservoir, and then back up Monte Bello Road to the wnry. Alas, just after we arrive at Ridge, the skies open up & it starts to pour. Common sense (sometimes) prevails and we scratch the bike ride and, thus, have absolutely no alternative but to taste some Ridge wines. Darn!! :-) Joining Rose & I are San Francisco friends & frequent wine cohorts Dave Jones and Claudia Lampner. They're serving all the wines (non-ATP) they had released that last year, all old friends. Paul comes down to the tasting room and we engage in wine talk & catch up on news for an hour or so as the skies continue to pour. He, too, is very excited about the '97 vintage. Ridge will also be releasing their first Syrah (with about 5% Viognier therein) from the Lytton Springs property to the ATP program this year; a prospect I certainly look forward to. He laments the fact that they've not made any more Zin Essences since the stunning '93. Even though they pay him top $$$'s for the badly shrivelled grapes, Benito Dusi apparently gets very uncomfortable about leaving those grapes out there on the vine long after his Italian heritage says they should be harvested. Alternate sources for those grapes appear unlikely. So savor those '93 Essences; they may be the last ones. As always, Paul has loads of ideas and information to share with us. He forages in the back to bring out a bottle of the unreleased '96 California Chardonnay. The wines we taste:

**Ridge SantaCruzMountains Chard '95: Beautiful lovely toasty/oaked buttery ripe melony Chard nose; soft rich mouthfilling lush melony Chard toasty/buttery oak flavor with that underlying Santa Cruz Mountain dusty/austere character. For many years, Ridge made Chards that were very lean & austere; Chards that tasted like..... a Chard made by a red wine producer. But they aged incredibly well. This Chard is more of a contemporary style and just as good as anything you can find in Calif, yet still retains that Santa Cruz Mountain character.
*Ridge Calif Chard '96 (unreleased; 75% Santa Cruz Mountain Chard, 25% Dry Creek Valley Viognier): Med. Light gold color; very fragrant some Viognier/floral melony light oaked nose; soft rich fat oily/textured light floral/perfumy/melony Chard flavor; very interesting wine & the best Chard/Viognier blend I've had; the Viognier seems to add a lot of floral notes but takes away from the richness & extract of the Santa Cruz Mountain Chard.
Ridge Paso Robles Zinfandel '95: Light blackberry slight dusty/jammy nose; soft light fragrant blackberry/ jammy light dusty flavor; a light blackberry elegant Zin.
Ridge LyttonSprings Zinfandel '95: Light bright very spicy vibrant raspberry/Zinberry nose; smooth fairly lush very spicy very raspberry/Zinberry flavor; a very attractive nice drinking Strauss-style of Zin.
**Ridge MonteBello Cab '93: Dark color; fairly dusty/ Santa Cruz Mountain Cab some toasty/ pungent oaked some blackcurranty nose; bit lean rather tannic (wine was on the cold side) dusty Santa Cruz Mountain Cab flavor; seems rather hard & lean & closed right now; the Ridge Monte Bello always seems to have a Rhone-like character that I really like in it. I bet Monte Bello Syrah would be killer stuff.
**Ridge Pagani Ranch Zinfandel '95: Dark color; big ripe pungent dusty blackberry Am.oaked pretty complex nose; big rich dusty earthy/pungent very American oaked pretty intense blackberry flavor; killer killer Zin.
Ridge YorkCreek Petite Sirah '94: Dusty low fruit closed nose; hard tannic dusty austere flavor with little fruit; seems hard & mean right now but should age into a pretty good Petite.
So, back out into the downpour, on up Monte Bello Ridge to take in the view (what we could see through the clouds) and pinpoint the biking trails there that Paul recommended for another day, back down Monte Bello Road and back to Pleasanton. The skies continue to hemorrage so no exercise today. Change clothes and then up to Walnut Creek to celebrate Rose's birthday with dinner at Prima.
Prima is also one of my favorite restaurants in the Bay area; very good Italian food with a bit of California modifications with a terrific wine list and an extraordinary wine-by-the-glass list; which I usually order from & have them served blind. Last Fall at Prima, I went 0-3 on whites, 1-3 on reds, and 3-3 on dessert wines; an awfully shabby performance that left Rose very unimpressed. This time, bingo... 4-4, 3-3, and 3-3; a dazzling performance that brought the entire restaurant to its feet in a standing ovation!!! :-) The meal, as always, was absolutely first-rate:

Cream of belgian endive Soup with Barley and Proscuitto
Pisarei al Sugo di Funghi (Semolina & bread crumb pillows, wild hedgehog mushrooms, curry & veal ragout): a very rich heavy dish much like gnocchi
Peanut Mousse with Caramel Sauce
Apple Tartlett with Vanilla Bean Gallette
and the wines:
Droin Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons '95: Lean bit earthy/stoney nose; light tart lean earthy/stoney flavor; good Chablis but just that.
*PrimaDonna SantaBarbara Chard '95: Lush SB Chard/pineapply some toasty oaked nose; rich tart spicy pineapply/spicy oaked flavor; a racy Clendennen Chard.
Drouhin Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatieres '96: Rather lean stoney light Chard nose; tart lean bit thin stoney flavor; unimpressive.
Tessier Meursault '95: Very pencilly oaked some melony nose; tart but rich ripe Melony Chardonnay very pencilly oaked flavor; nice WhiteBurg.
Trellis HerrickVineyard Chard '96: Simple melony rather toasty/oaked nose; soft simple melony Chard light toasty oaked flavor; unexciting.
LeCinciole ChiantiClassico Riserva '95: Very dark color; very intense ripe fruit earthy some oaked nose; dusty ripe fruit spicy bit tannic flavor; very big for a CC Riserva in a Calif style.
*Charles Cimicky BarossaVlly Cab Blend '95: Very dark color; big rich ripe lush chocolaty/black curranty/green olive nose; big rich ripe chocolaty/black curranty some oaked flavor; lovely big ripe Aussie Cab. BonnyDoon Vin de Glaciere Muscat: classic very intense grapey very Muscatty floral very sweet dessert wine. Ch. Siglas-Rabaud '89: Med.dark gold color; slight musty/earthy some botrytis figgy nose; hard rich slight earthy botrytis peachy figgy/Semillo flavor; decent Sauternes but just that. ???? Vin Santo: rather oxidized earthy slight sweet clunky VinSanto; bit too unclean & earthy for me.
All in all, a terrific meal, good wines, and special company. Back to Pleasanton and crash.
Monday/ Martin Luther King Holiday (1/19/98)

Awake to patchy/cloudy skies with blue patches here & there; so a bike ride with Rose is in the offing after the previous day's downpour that had flooding and washed out roads throughout the Bay area. Load up the bikes, drive to the west edge of Pleasanton, and head south down Foothill Road to Sonol, across to Palomares Canyon Rd, up the canyon past West Wood and Chouinard Winery thru lovely country, a long drag up the Dublin Grade and back down to Pleasanton; about 38 miles in all. A great ride marred by several periods of steady drizzle along the way. Shower & clean up and then a drive into The City for lunch with Hank Rubin. Hank is a very special friend whom I hadn't seen in some 5 years. He founded the Pot Luck Restaurant in Albany and was one of the real founders of the California Cuisine movement. They had an extraordinary wine list of California wines and were doing wine dinners long before such things were fashionable. As editor of Vintage Magazine, he was a real mentor to me in encouraging me to write wine articles, to which I owe him a great debt. Without his help, my articles would have read much more like a Los Alamos Technical Report than a moderately-interesting piece of wine journalism. Hank's book on his Spanish Civil War memoirs has just come out; a very interesting read. He has another book just completed, looking for a publisher, on 1,000 Food Questions. Another book, based on his many years as Bon Apetit Wine Editor and the Q&A column is in the works. Having recently passed the 80 yr mark, he's incredibly active and full of energy; yet still keeps that slightly ornery/curmudgeonly edge that makes him so special to me. We meet up at Hank's apartment high atop Nob Hill with this incredible view. Very chaotic on his floor due to reconstruction from a recent fire several floors below.

We head out to lunch at Garabaldi's on Presidio for a simple meal of:

Wild Mushroom Soup
Grilled Vegetable Foccacia with Mesclun Greens and try a glass, despite the waiter's admonition that it's not good, of:
Lonetree Mendocino Zinfandel '94: Deep blackberry bit rustic/fumey/volatile nose; simple very ripe blackberry bit funky/oxidized flavor; a rather rustic and ineptly-made Zin
Hank's wife. Lillian, and grandson, Blake, are also there, by coincidence, for lunch so I get to meet them for the first time. We get all caught up on our respective families and fellow wine colleagues, even Philip Seldon!! A very nice lunch with a most special of friends. Stop by American Fencer's Supply to look at some gear and then head on back to Pleasanton. Clean up and change and then Rose & I head off to Oakland for the Rhone Dinner at Bay Wolf. I first ate at Michael Wild's superlative Bay Wolf last October when I had lunch there with Steve Edmunds, and fell in love with it. It will now be a must-visit each trip to the Bay area. Michael was just organizing the evening then, the timing was convenient to the ZAP event, so I made reservations on the spot. The meal was designed to showcase what California is doing with Rhone varietals; a passion of Michael's that I also share. There to schmooze and show off their wines were John Alban (Alban Vineyards in Arroyo Grande), Steve Edmunds (Edmunds St. John in Oakland), Bob Lindquist (Qupe Winery in Santa Maria) and the ever-eccentric..... Randall Graham (Bonny Doon Winery in SantaCruz/ Soledad/ PasoRobles/ Livermore/ and points beyond to where mere mortals have never trod!). Also in attendance is Gourmet magazine Wine Editor Gerald Asher. Joining Rose & I are Dave & Claudia again. Unfortunately, Deborah Madison (cookbook author) and David Tanis (chef) are unable to make it.
The first hour is spent renewing & making new friendships, assorted appetizers, a few wines on the Bay Wolf porch and entryway. A few things I find out: Randall will be planting his new vineyards with Mediterrean varietals, a whole slew of them, at his Ruby Hill property in Livermore...... in a helical pattern rather than rows.... very cosmic, of course. Steve Edmunds tells me that the Durell Vineyard in Sonoma has been sold (he was trying to get a group together to buy it & put his winery there) but the buyer really likes what he's done with that Syrah grapes and so will continue to sell to him.... very good news. Bob Lindquist heads out the next morning for the Winter Wine Festival in Taos... and another Rhone dinner that night at Zeke Lambert's restaurant there.... a meal I would otherwise be attending. Finally we are seated at a large table with two local Berkeley couples, a couple from Napa that have a small Vineyard just planted to Syrah out on Coombs Rd, and Bob Cranston & his wife.

Bob is..... I guess you'd call him a "wine entertainer"... for lack of a better word. He has a radio show on wine up in Napa & was the moderator of the Raisen' Rhones panel in Paso Robles last summer. An incredibly funny guy and kept us in stitches most of the evening. Bob, Steve, and John join our table in Bob's place several times thru the evening. The menu:

Assorted Appetizers Goat Cheese Souffle: terrific mild goat-cheese dish
Roast Angler Fish with Baby Turnips & Blood Oranges: a strange dish at first thought but the combination really worked great
Duck Confit with Chanterelles: Some of the best duck I've had
Braised Beef with Marrow Mashed Potatoes and Syrah: a simple yet stunning dish when paired with the Syrahs.
Cookies: a simple but super end to the meal.
All of the wines I'd had before, though two of the older ones not for some time. Tonight, all the wines were absolutely smashing... truly great, world-class Rhones:
Bonny Doon Garnacha NV: Very interesting rose; lots of Grenache fruit some alcoholic nose; slightly sweet rather hot/alcoholic strawberry Grenache flavor; served with a twist of lime, this really is a great apertif wine
Edmunds St.John Les Cotes Sauvages Rose '93 (Mourvedre/Grenache/Cinsault blend): Light fragrant very fruity some strawberry nose; tart clean crisp light strawberry fruity flavor; very nice dry Provencal-style rose.
**Alban Estate Viognier '96: Very fragrant peachy/Viognier slight minerally nose; soft very fragrant lush very ripe peachy/pear/Viognier some minerally/ Condrieu flavor; a great near-Condrieu Viogner.
*Qupe Ibarra-Young Vineyard Viognier '96: Very aromatic perfumed slight volatile/ oaked nose; soft very fragrant/perfumy some hot/volatile oaked flavor; a pretty classic Lindquist Viognier
**Edmunds St. John Grand Heritage Viognier (15.6%) '96: Rather restrained some pears/Viognier bit earthy/dusty slight oaked/minerally nose; bit rich mouthfilling pears/Viognier very spicy some earthy/dusty flavor; a very unusual style of Viognier unlike any I've ever had; neither Calif or Condrieu; seems a bit closed but underneath a delicious Viognier
*Alban Estate Rousanne '96: Very fragrant/perfumey slight oaked floral/spicy nose; tart lean rich floral/spicy some toasty oaked flavor; a lovely aromatic perfumed Rousanne.
*Qupe Alban Vineyard Rousanne '95: Light earthy very lovely fragrant aromatic slight volatile nose; lovely lush fragrant floral very spicy light oaked/pencilly flavor; a beautiful ripe Rousanne
*Bonny Doon Rousanne '96: Slight band-aid/earthy/stoney/dusty very fragrant floral aromatic nose; strong very floral some Riesling/tropical fruit-like ripe very spicy light oaked flavor; one of Randall's best Rhone/whites yet.
**Alban Estate Grenache '95: Beautiful oaked lush smokey/toasty/pungent strawberry Grenache nose; tart rich lush ripe smokey/pungent/toasty bright strawberry/ Grenache flavor; perhaps the best Grenache ever made in California; serious wine.
***Edmunds St.John Les Cotes Sauvages '92: Beautiful toasty/pungent/roasted/smokey complex perfumey very Rhonish nose; soft big ripe rich complex roasted/ toasty/pungent flavor; incredible complex very Rhonish wines
**Qupe Los Olivos Cuvee (Syrah/Mourvedre) '91: Lovely lush blackberry/licorice/ plummy dusty nose; soft round rich complex big lush plummy/licorice/black- berry flavor; this wine was sorta clunky at release, but what a beautiful complex wine now; best mature Rhone-blend I've had yet.
*Bonny Doon Le Cigare Volante '95: Very ripe fruity Grenache/strawberry light toasdty/oaked nose; soft spicy Grenache/strawberry fruity light toasty flavor; nicely done but not the structure or complexity of the previous three wines, seems simple by comparison; needs some age.
**Alban Reva Estate Syrah '95: Strong smokey/pungent blackberry/plummy some dusty Rhone/roasted nose; big rich smokey/pungent/toasty intense blackberry/ plummy flavor with ample tannins; needs age; John's best Syrah (except for his Lorraine) ever; world class Syrah
***Edmunds St.John Durell Vineyard Syrah '95: Intense blackberry pungent/toasty/ roasted/Rhone dusty oaked nose; huge roasted/pungent/ dusty/toasty/ oaked intense blackberry/ Syrah flavor; world-class Hermitage-like Syrah; stunning
**Qupe Hillside Estate Bien Nacido Syrah '95 (en magnum): Intense pungent/licorice blackberry/ black cherry bit herbal toasty/ Fr.oaked nose; huge intense black- berry/black cherry dusty herbal smokey/toasty Fr,oaked flavor; a huge mouthfilling intense complex Syrah.
**Bonny Doon Bien Nacido Syrah '95: Classic Bien Nacido /black cherry very intense fragrant Syrah light toasty nose; beautiful classic Bien Nacido/ black cherry blackberry soft rich very lush flavor; Randall's best Syrah ever I feel; loads of that typical Bien Nacido black cherry character.
The wines were about the most stunning collection of Calif/Rhones I've ever had at one setting; truly world-class wines. The Rousannes are a variety that that bears watching; all of the new ones are very impressive. It was great to just enjoy these wines with a meal; didn't spit or dump a one; but still did the wine-geek thing and took notes. Another smashing evening of great wines, great foods, and very special friends. Back to Pleasanton in a bit of a fog; Rose at the wheel in fine shape, as always.
Tuesday (1/20/98)

Sleep in 'till 7:30, get out & do my fencing drill to grey overcast but dry skies; then over to Alameda to taste at Rosenblum. Voila.... for the second time in a row I don't get lost in lower Oakland looking for the Webster Tube. Just in time for my 9:30 a.m. appointment with Al Flock, but he just got back from travel to a desk piled with paperwork, so Kent Rosenblum is drafted to taste with me. So out to the barrels to try:

Rosenblum Fess Parker Vineyard Viognier (14.8%) '97: Kent's first attempt with this variety and a nicely done job. Direct from the tank: Attractive light peachy/Viognier bit floral nose; tart crisp racy pear/Viognier flavor; more like Southern France Viognier than Condrieu; not the lushness of most Calif Viognier.
Rosenblum Lone Oak Vineyard Chardonnay '97: to go into a Meritage blend with Semillon, Gwt, & ??: ripe melony clean light toasty nose; tart spicy melony Chard flavor; clean crisp light oaked Chard
Rosenblum Edna Valley Chardonnay Paragon Vineyard '97: Lush barrel fermented toasty/ripe melony floral nose; rich lush barrel fermented toasty/oaked ripe Chard bit charred flavor; the Rosenblum Edna Valley Chard is often overlooked because of all Kent's reds, but it is a very nicely done Chard.
Rosenblum LivermoreValley Semillon '97: Ripe grapey/figgy Semillon light earthy nose; soft rich fairly lush figgy/Semillon some toasty/oak flavor; another very nice usually overlooked white in his tableau.
Rosenblum Shaw-England Vineyard (near Davis) Syrah (13.4%) '97: Lush Zin-like berry nose; soft licorize light berry-like flavor; not blatently Syrah but an interesting red.
Rosenblum Alegria Vineyard (one block) Zinfandel '97: Lush blackberry Zin dusty nose; big lush slightly sweet (not yet frmtd dry) ripe blackberry Zin dusty flavor.
Jeff Cohn Fess Parker Vineyard Syrah '97: Jeff is one of Kent's winemakers who's producing a tiny bit of his own-label wine; Ken't urging him to make a Cohn-Head Red sometime: Deep black cherry/licorice spicy nose; fairly rich lush ripe black cherry/licorice/dusty flavor; seems more interesting than the Fess Parker Syrah itself.
Jeff Cohn Eaglepoint Ranch Mendocino Syrah '97: Some dusty/tomatoey Mendocino blackberry/ Syrah bit lighter nose; soft some dusty light blackberry/black cherry Syrah flavor; leaner & less interesting than the Parker.
Jeff Cohn Rhodes Vineyard Zinfandel '96: Ripe dusty/blackberry some pungent/oaked nose; soft ripe dusty/blackberry light pungent/oak flavor; nicely done Zin more in a Rhone style than the Rosenblum style.
We stroll out to the wnry entrance to take a look at the sorting table that Kent designed & had made for him and first used for this '97 vintage. It's about a 12' long wide belt on a table that they dump the grapes onto and sort thru them to remove bad bunches of grapes. Kent feels that this gives him a much better control over the quality of the grapes that go into the fermenting bins. Then back to the new winery addition to taste the '96's from barrel. Kent feels '96's are currently in a bit of a funk and not showing well right now. They seem, in general, to me to lack the characteristic Rosenblum lushness that the '95's showed from barrel a year earlier, but still taste pretty good to me.
Rosenblum St.Peters Church Zinfandel '96: Licorice brighht raspberry fruit nose; spicy bright raspberry some vanilla/brandy oaked flavor; a bright zippy Zin.
Rosenblum ContraCosta PatoVineyard Zinfandel '96: Lush plummy/strawberry nose; soft ripe srawberry/plummy bit earthy/dusty flavor; good CC character.
Rosenblum PatoVineyard 2nd Crop Mourvedre '96: Light plummy/dusty bit jammy nose; very soft strawberry/plummy dusty flavor; bit strange.
Rosenblum Holbrook-Mitchell Trio '96: Fairly big some herbal/ripe blackcurranty Cab some pencilly oaked nose; big fairly rich blackcurranty/herbal bit green olive Cab flavor; a big rich lush Cab; another very good HMT.
Rosenblum LoneOak Merlot '96: Bit lighter dusty/cherry bit closed nose; hard tight dusty/cherry Merlot flavor; not the usual lushness & tight for a merlot.
Rosenblum Dry Creek Valley Rock Pile Vineyard (above Lake Sonoma) Merlot '96: Rather lean hard closed light berry nose; tight lean bit thin flavor; not showing much.
Rosenblum Brandlin Ranch Zinfandel '96: this is Kent's last Brandlin Ranch, the property was bought by Peter Franus, who will take all the grapes from the '97 vintage on: Big licorice/pungent ripe blackberry nose; rich big blackberry/dusty some pungent/oaked flavor; gonna be a good finale to this wine.
Kent mentioned that there will be no more Sonoma Old Vines Zin with the '96 vintage; all the Zins will carry a sngle Vineyard designation. In comparing vintages; Kent thought the '96 vintage produced a bit lighter, more balanced elegant style of Zin. In '97, the production was up, but he thought the quality was also up despite the large harvest. To him, the '95's were the best of the '90's thus far; but the '97 potentially could be his best. Kent recently went to France and presented a paper on the production of warm-climate (ContraCosta Cnty) Zinfandel. Instead of doing his customary fermentation in small plastic bins with frequent punching down (manually) of the cap; Kent has ben using (on Contra Costa Zin) a cold soak for a few days, followed by a warm tank fermentation with pumping over. He feels this gives a wine with good extraction and also a better structure. His '97 Contra Costa Zins all seemed awfully good to me. And so back to work in the barrels:
Rosenblum CullinaneVineyard Sonoma Zinfandel '96: This Vineyard in the town of Sonoma is currently mired in litigation, so the future of wine from here is a bit doubtful: Big ripe lush blackberry very spicy/dusty nose; fairly big rich ripe blackberry dusty structured dusty flavor; seems the best '96 thus far.
Rosenblum Napa Valley Opus Merlot '97: from very ripe (28 degrees Brix) grapes adjacent the Opus I Vineyard: Soft lush very grapey bit bretty nose; very ripe soft lush grapey some cherry/herbal Merlot flavor; interesting blending material
Ballentine Zinfandel '97: purchased for blending material: pleasant berry/raspberry some spicy nose; soft bit simple spicy/berry flavor; pleasant simple Zin.
Rosenblum Harris-Kratka Zinfandel '96: bright vibrant raspberry/Zinberry nose; some light bright elegant spicy Zinberry/raspberry flavor; nice tasty spicy Zin
Rosenblum Napa Valley Hendy Vineyard Zinfandel '96: Fairly big rich lush blackberry/raspberry some dusty/pencilly oaked nose; soft very lush ripe blackberry/raspberry light oaked flavor; another great Hendry Zin.
Rosenblum Sonoma Rock Pile Vineyard Zinfandel '97: this is a new Vineyard designate Zin for Kent: Rather big lush Zinberry/blackberry some dusty nose; soft rich lush ripe blackberry Zin flavor.
Then it's into the lab for a blending tasting. Kent's preparing to blend some of the '97 FessParker Viognier into the Lone Oak Chard '97. So we taste the two pure samples along with 5%, 10%, and 15% blends of Viognier into the Chard. The pure Viognier, now at a warmer temperrature, seems much richer & lusher & softer than tank sample earlier tasted. My preference was for the 10%, feeling the Viognier gave the blend a nice floral almost SantaBarbara character witho being too blantently Viognier as the 15% sample seemed to be. Kent opts for the 15% blend. Jeff prefers the 5% blend.
Then it's back to work amongst the barrels:

Castle Rock Mt.Veeder Merlot '95: this is a purchased wine made from high-mtn Merlot for blending purposes: Big hard Fr.oaked dusty some cherry Merlot nose; big dusty pungent hard cherry/Merlot flavor; a big hard Merlot that will give some structure to some wine. This Vineyard will be planting Syrah and Petite Syrah that Kent will be able to use in the future.
Rosenblum Alegria Vineyard (blended from several blocks) Zinfandel '97: Big bright lush blackberry/raspberry very spicy some dusty nose; rich extracted lusg big blackberry flavors; this seems about the best of the '97's and promises to be a Vineyard that Kent's going to make great Zin from.
JP Cellars PasoRobles Zinfandel '97: a wine made for Kent by Sylvestre Cellars: light blackberry light PR jammy nose; dusty blackberry jammy spicy light flavor; a very tasting Zin for blending purposes; not Sauret but nicely done.
In discussing the '97 vintage; Kent characterizes it as a bit of a weird year with high sugars and high alcohols with stuck or slow fermentations common throughout Calif. Nonetheless, he feels, with careful attention to winemaking details, it will produce some extraordinary wines. So back to work:
Rosenblum Contra Costa Pato Vineyard Zinfandel '97: Rich plummy/licorice some dusty nose; soft rich ripe plummy/licorice earthy/dusty flavor.
Rosenblum Continente Vineyard Contra Costa Zinfandel '97: Big ripe plummy/licorice/ blackberry dusty nose; rich more tannic & structured plummy/blackberry flavor; another super Contra Costa for Kent.
Rosenblum SauretVineyard PasoRobles Zinfandel '97: Rather jammy very ripe lush blackberry nose; rich ripe blackberry/jammy very lush big flavors; seems bigger & riper than past Sauret Zins.
Rosenblum Kennefick Vineyard Petite Sirah '97: Attractive fairly bright fruit/black cherry/peppery nose; big tannic structured black cherry/fruity flavor; lots of fruit for a PS.
Rosenblum Karla's Vineyard Contra Costa Zinfandel '97: Big licorice plummy pungent/dusty nose; big tannic rich structured blackberry/plummy flavor; terrific CC Zin
Rosenblum Harris-Kratka Zinfandel '97: Big rich blackberry/dusty fragrant/spicy nose; soft ripe blackberry dusty licorice very spicy flavor; seems bigger than previous H-K Zins
Rosenblum Rock Pile Zinfandel '97: Ripe very spicy forward raspberry/Zinberry nose; soft lush bright Zinberry/raspberry flavor; a racy spicy Zinberry Zin.
Rosenblum HatVineyard Monterrey PetiteSirah '97: Made for blending purposes: Black color; strange roasted walnuts dusty coffee nose; very peppery/walnutty dusty very soft flavor; interesting strange wine.
Rosenblum Harris-Kratka Carignane '97: Deep ripe spicy black cherry nose; soft rich lush very spicy dusty bright black cherry flavor; not the usual clunky Carignane; Kent feels '97 is a killer yr for this variety.
Rosenblum TLK Vineyard Carignane '97: Very strong aromatic black cherry nose; big rich lush dusty very spicy black cherry/licorice flavor; killer Carignane.
Kent is getting more and more Contra Costa Zin. His have always seemed to have more bright fruit than other producers CC Zins; yet still retain that dusty/earthy/plummy CC character. His '97 CC Zins all seemed much bigger and richer & more structured than his previous ones; more along the Cline style. And finally we taste the recently bottled:
Rosenblum Paso Robles Sauret Vineyard Zinfandel '96: Very attractive plummy/jammy light blackberry/dusty nose; soft lush forward blackberry/jammy fragrant flavor; another good drinking PR Zin.

Rosenblum ContraCosta Zinfandel '96: Light plummy CC Zin light blackberry nose; light spicy/plummy licorice/smokey light blackberry Zin flavor; another nice drinking CC Zin.
And so.... about 40 wines.... a decent morning's work. Kent plies me with a few bottles I haven't tried, and quick adieu to all the Rosenblum folks and off I head about noonish for Sacramento. Get really drowsy almost to Davis, so stop for a bagel and a short nap. And then on into Sac and Corti Bros. Groceries. I hadn't seen Darrell Corti since up at the Aspen Food & Wine Festival some 3 years ago, so I made the pilgrimage to Sac an important part of my itinerary. Darrell usually modestly describes himself as merely a grocer. In point of fact, his knowledge of wines, of foods, of languages, of any subject you care to name... is, to me, absolutely incredible. Best of all, Darrell is eager to share is knowledge with anyone that is interested in learning. The simplest of questions can sometimes turn into a 15 minute, or longer, lecture. I often come away from my visits with him with my head reeling and spend a fair amount of time the next day doing a core dump to my notebook. This years visit was very much in that vein. The Corti Bros. Grocery store is an absolutely amazing place with so much stuff that I've never seen; from high-end balsamic vinegars to all sorts of pastas, potato chips, jellies, condiments.... you name it. The wine part is not particularly big; but it is a very eclectic collection. The aisles have all sorts of wines of which I haven't a clue what are. So Darrell leads me up & down the aisle telling me what to buy and what not to. End up getting some 3.5 cases to be shipped back the New Mexico. After about an hour of this, it's off to Darrell's home for dinner and a "few" wines to try. Joining us are Kevin, Darrell's assistant in the wine department, and John, English prof at SacCity College. As usual, the menu is very simple but unbelievably tasty:
Sliced Colombo Salami Georges Blanc Rabbit Pate Macherroni in Ragout of Mallard & ?? & Porcino Mushrooms
Cold Sliced "Premier Lean" Prime Rib Roast Beef with Fred's HorseRadish & Sauce Soubiese (onions cooked in butter & pureed): This beef has a great flavor & very unsual texture. It comes from a friend of Darrell's in Colorado who imports the semen of double-muscled Piemontese cattle (that are very low in intra-muscular fat) and then applied (by whatever process of which I'm not the least bit interested in!) to our cattle, Belgian Blue in this case. The flavor was very unusual and hard to describe and the texture was almost that of a flank steak.
Yorkshire Pudding made from the scant amount of fat from the roast beef.
Radicchio and Butter Head Lettuce Salad: which catalyzes Darrell to lecture for five minutes or more in the various types & production of Raddicchio but, alas, I didn't take notes
Fresh Pears & Parmagiano: incredibly simple but incredibly tasty; some of the ripest, most delicious pears I've ever had and the tastiest, freshest Parmagiano I've ever had.
Stunning dessert. Bernachon Chocolates: probably the best chocolates I've ever had.
And the wines were, of course, an education:
Mt. Pleasant Individual Vineyard Lovedale Australian Semillon '84: Dark gold color; strong pungent/oaked slight oxidized tobaccoy/pungent very complex nose; soft very lush smooth very complex figgy/ pungent/tobbacoy/ oaked flavor not unlike an old dried-out Sauternes; old Aussie dry Semillons are amazing and one of the world's unrecognized vinous treasures.
Chamberyzette Apertif a la Fraise (French vermouth flavored with wild strawberries): beautiful fragrant delicate strawberry nose; lighht off-dry perfumy aromatic strawberry flavor; a really lovely apertif.
Joseph Swan Light Wine Gamay '71: pungent smokey oaked pencilly dusty complex nose; very pungent charred/ smokey/toasty/ pencilly/ cedary dusty flavor; not much fruit left but an interesting charred/burnt oak & dusty character; very interesting and not at all unattractive
La Quadratira del Cerchio ("Squaring of the Circle") Prima Viaggio NV ('95): A blend made by (??) winemaker who consults in 3 different regions: basically Sangiovese from Brunello blended with Refosco & Schippettino from Fruili and Montepulciano de Abruzzo de Marche: Intense very peppery/dusty nose; very ripe very black peppery dusty lush bit floral/plummy flavor; a very interesting complex very well-made wine.
Gallo Sonoma Alexander Valley Barrelli Creek Vineyard Barbera '94: tiny production of only 70 cases: beautiful complex licorice/pungent very spicy Barbera nose; tart light oaked very spicy-spicy sausage complex young flavors; one of the best Gallos I've had; quintessential Barbera fruit.
Cape Mentelle Margaret River New Zealand Zinfandel (14.9%) '92: Very strong minty/ menthol oaked dusty little fruit nose; tart bit rich very spicy minty/ menthol bit milky/oaked dusty/earthy flavor; very atypical of Zin & more like a Languedoc or Cucamonga red.
Castello di Brolio Casalferro Vineyard Toscano '95: 100% Sangiovese: Very spicy complex toasty/pencilly oaked some cherry/black cherry Sangiovese nose; rich very spicy cherry/black cherry very pencilly/new oak flavor; a very Calif style Chianti some like the Flora Springs or Luna.
Sella & Mosca Anghelu Ruju Vino Liquorso Tradizionelle di Alghero Risau '79: A Sardinian wine, fortified to 19%, made like a port from Monica & Canniolo varieties: very perfumed very fragrant rather ruby port-like nose; sweet bit oxidized ruby/young tawnet port-like flavor; a rather interesting fairly complex port.
Gonzales Byass Finest Dry Oloroso Sherry '63: Beautiful complex very smokey roasted espresso pungent nose; dry very complex astringent pungent/ espresso/roasted very smokey flavor; incredible complex sherry very much like a very old Madeira.
Zedda-Piras Mirto di Sardegna NV: A Sardinian liquer made with mytrle berries macerated in alcohol with sugar syrup added: Strong complex piney/ rosemary alcoholic nose; complex rosemary/pungent/piney sweet flavor; very interesting stuff not unlike some cough syrups.
Since we had only been at table some 5 1/2 hrs, the night was still young. So Darrell proceeded to educate me on fine tea. By this point, having not done any spitting and very little dumping, my notes start to get a bit sketchy. The tea was Tieguanyin style (Iron Goddess of Mercy) and my notes say something about breast flower fragrance and the tea leaves being lightly crushed between a maiden's breasts. Sorry on this one!! The first steeping was nearly colorless but had this incredible delicate aromatic fragrance to it. Subsequent steepings became more pungent & slightly coarse, but still very fragrant. Clearly tea I've got to learn more about. So, the clock is pushing 1:30 a.m. and I'm in a bit of a fog. Darrell probably could have gone on another hour or so, but I just don't have his stanima. Bid adieu to Darrell (Kevin & John long ago having left the table) and head West, finally crashing about 3:00 a.m. over in Fairfield. Don't recall ever getting onto I-80 or going thru Davis, but must have at some point.
Wednesday (1/21/98)

Sleep in late (7:30am), up and do some fencing drills to shake out the cobwebs from the previous night, and head on over to the Napa Valley for a 10:00 am appt at Swanson Vineyards with Marco Cappelli. I've followed Marco's wines from the very start ('88?) because his first one was a Zinfandel; and his passion for Sangiovese and, more recently, Syrah. I first met him about 6 years ago at Aspen when he was on Darrell's panel/tasting of Zinfandel. His early efforts seemed a bit heavy on the pencilly/vanilla French oak, but the last few vintages that oak has been a bit more restrained. His wines have a bright very spicy racy style that I find most attractive. Though he doesn't make Zin any longer, I've really liked his Sangiovese and, particularly, the Syrah. The new Alexis wine, Syrah/Cab blend based on the Aussie model, is also impressive. I meet up with Marco at the rather small winery on Manley Lane; and immediately have this strange feeling of deja vu. Turns out, I had visited here around 1975 when the place was Cassayre-Forni Wnry. Weird. Swanson owns two Vineyards from which their grapes are sourced; their Oakville Vineyard down on the valley floor to the east of Oakville, and the Schmidt Vineyard a bit further south and on the western foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains below Mt. Veeder. The Schmidt Vineyard is a more recent acquisition and has some old vines Syrah on it from which Sean Thackery made his early Orion Syrahs. They have new plantings on Schmidt of Syrah, taken from the old vines there, and some of the Durell clone; plus new Sangiovese plantings. They also have new Syrah plantings on the Oakville Vineyard to blend into Syrah for the Alexis wine. Swanson also makes Chard, Cab, and Merlot; but my interest was in Marco's Sangiovese and Syrah. So, on this bright sunny morning, with the morning espresso finally starting to kick in, we head for the barrels:

Swanson OakvilleVineyard Sangiovese '97: Bright ripe berry/slight cranberry nose; tart rich bright black cherry/cranberry flavor; that classic Calif tartness but good fullness & richness
Swanson Schmidt Vineyard Sangiovese '97: spicy more vibrant cherry nose; tarter more lean bright vibrant cherry/bit cranberry flavor; bit tarter & leaner
Swanson SchmidtVineyard Sangiovese 428 rootstock) '97: tarter yet with more of a minty/menthol/eucalyptus rather spicy black cherry.
Marco points out that the Schmidt has a bunch of eucalyptus trees bordering the Vineyard and that the throw off some fuzzy stamens or something that he feels infects the wines from Schmidt. They're paying with the neighbor to take a bunch of these trees out.
Swanson Sangiovese (blended Vineyards?) '96: Stronger more black cherry/deeper nose; richer fairly lush black cherry Sangiovese with some pencilly oak; another outstanding Sangiovese a bit more reigned in on the oak; lovely stuff
Swanson Sangiovese Rosato '97: made from the juice they bleed off the skins (sasegenage or some such term) to get a darker Sangiovese: really bright vibrant spicy/cranberry nose; tart bright cranberry flavor; this is always one of my favorite Calif roses.
Swanson Oakville Vineyard Syrah (to blend into Sangiovese) '97: rather soft fat lighter bright blackberry/Syrah character; not the depth of later ones tasted
Swanson Sangiovese '95 (from bottle): Lush bright cherry/black cherry some pencilly/oak nose; tart rich very spicy black cherry/cherry some pencilly/ tobaccoy oak flavor; another lovely Sangiovese in their string.
Swanson Syrah (barrel frmtd, 6-7 yr old vines, Schmidt Vineyard) '97: bit roasted big blackberry/Syrah nose; tart rich light pungent/roasted big ripe blackberry/ Syrah flavor
Swanson Syrah (barrel frmtd, Durell clone, young vines) '97: less roasted/pungent more big ripe blackberry/Syrah nose; softer lusher less pungent/roasted loads of blackberry fruit flavor
Swanson Syrah (Durell clone, extended maceration) '97: bit less fruit more earthy/ clunky in the nose; harded more tannic/backward more dusty/earthy more funky flavor still with lots of blackberry Syrah fruit
Swanson SchmidtVineyard OldVines Syrah '97: harvested a bit earlier for more acids: strong roasted/smokey/dusty loads of blackberry fruit nose; bigger richer stronger roasted/pungent/dusty loads of blackberry/Syrah fruit flavor; not as lean & narrow from the previous '97 Syrahs; gonna be killer stuff.
Swanson Old Vines Schmidt Vineyard Syrah '96: more vanilla/pencilly/oaked spicy bright blackberry/ black cherry/ Syrah nose; very spicy some pencilly/oaked bright blackberry/Syrah bit more roasted/pungent flavor; more towards the Cote-Rotie rather than Hermitage part of the Syrah spectrum; beautiful Syrah.
Then Marco cracks some bottled Syrahs from their archives:
Swanson Old Vines Schmidt Vineyard Syrah '95: the current release: lots of pencilly/oak loads of ripe blackberry/Syrah fruit nose; some pungent/roasted lots of pencilly/vanilla oak ripe blackberry/Syrah fruit flavor; very much as I remember the sample we had in tasting 2 months ago.
Swanson Syrah (OldVines, Schmidt Vineyard) '94: bit less pencilly oak & more bright blackberry fruit; softer less oak more ripe fruit flavor; also much as I recall it over a yr ago.
Swanson Syrah (Old Vines, Schmidt Vineyard) '93: more licorice/pungent less oak loads of blackberry/Syrah nose; softer bir ripe lush fairly pungent/licorice intense blackberry/Syrah flavor; starting to show some complexity, less pencilly/vanilla/oak but still loads of blackberry fruit. and again from the barrel:
Swanson Alexis (55% Syrah, 33% CS, 12% CabFranc) '96: rather pungent/smokey/ licorice more deep/Aussie-like sweet oak rich black cherry nose; big ripe pungent/licorice/smokey black cherry flavor; seems more Aussie/sweet oak than the '94 I had; really beautiful wine.
Marco's Syrahs I have always liked very much from the first '93 vintage. They are loaded with ripe intense blackberry/Syrah character, lots of pencilly/vanilla Fr. oak; but seem to have much more structure than most from Calif of that style; definitely world-class Syrah in a Calif style. And I've liked his Sangiovese from the git-go; loads of cherry/black cherry fruit; more lushness than most from Calif; not Chianti Classico (not sure THAT'S the model I'd want anyway!), just great Calif Sangiovese.
Marco packs me up with bottles of the current releases of Syrah, Sangiovese, and Alexis and I head back north on Hwy 29. Stop North of St. Helena for an unannounced stop at Folie A Deux to check up on long-time friend Scott Harvey. He's having lunch in his home there so makes room for me at his table. The menu:

Orville Redenbacker Popcorn: white, crunchy, loads of Iowa cornfield flavor, bit salty
And the wine:
Schloss Johhanisberger Riesling Auslese '71: Dark gold color; intense earthy/botrytis peachy/complex/pencilly nose; off-dry intense buttery/peachy/ botrytis bit earthy flavor; beautiful complex old German Riesling (thanks to MattMan).
Didn't stop to taste but just wanted to see what he made this year of the '97 vintage:
1 ton Grand Pere Shenandoah Valley Barbera
15 t GrandPere SV Zin
25 t D'Agostini SV Zin
25 t Eschen Fiddletown Zin
GoldenVineyard SV Zin
BowmanVineyard SV Zin
Twin Rivers Vineyard Zin
10 t CliftonVineyard SV Syrah
5 t ??? Vineyard SV Syrah
2 t MattlichVineyard SV Syarh
5 t SteinbeckVineyard PasoRobles Syrah
Clearly he's got a lot of interresting stuff coming down the road. The ZAP wines Scott poured were very impressive, best he's done with Zin a FaD thus far (see below). Head on up into Calistoga & get another espresso. Stop by Enoteca to take a look-see at Margaux Singleton's new wine shop. Small part of Fred's antique shop but a very nicely- done selection of fairly scarce,interesting wine.Then back South and stop at The St. Helena Wine Merchant and pick out a mixed case of stuff to ship home. Then on south to Idylwood Lane for a stop at Villa Helena Winery. I've followed the Villa Helena Viognier from the start, liked quite a few of them, was aware that they made other varieties, so wanted to find out a bit more about them. Due to a cross-up in communications, owner Don McGrath was over in Sacramento, so his wife, Lidia, gave me a short tour & tasting:
Villa Helena Viognier '96: fragrant aromatic peachy/pear Viognier nose; tart lean bit minerally fresh pears/light peachy/Viognier flavor; bit leaner than usual but a nice almost Condrieu character to it Villa
Helena Charbono '95: Deep dusty plummy/earthy nose; bit too hard/tannic rather plummy flavor; bit clunky & rustic
Villa Helena Dulcinea (sweet Semillon/SB blend) Special Select Late Harvest '94: Deep gold/ brown botrytis/peach syrup bit oxidized nose; soft rich very sweet lush peachy/ botrytis some tobaccoy/pencilly flavor; on the coarse & clunky side
Villa Helena Ferraro Vineyard Amador Late Harvest Zinfandel '85: 14.4%, 3% r.s: smokey oxidized very raisened/overripe nose; sweet raisened/tobaccoy rather tired/oxidized flavor Clearly, the Viognier is, by far, the best of their lot. The other wines are interesting but a bit on the rustic/clunky side.
Head back north up Hwy 29 to Calistoga, across to Santa Rosa & check into a motel. Get in some more fencing drills, catch a few winks of shut-eye, get cleaned up and then off to the NW Santa Rosa suburbs for tasting and dinner with Mike Officer & his family. I'd had chatted a bit with Mike over the last year a bit on some of the Wine BB's I hang out on & when he noted I was going to be in the area, asked me to stop by for tasting & dinner. After several days of big/restaurant meals; it was really nice to dine "en familie" at a relaxed pace. Doing most of the meal was his wife, Kendall.
Also there to spice up the evening was daughter, Rachel (about 6 years), and son, Riley (about 4). Rachel is a real sweet-heart, very friendly & open, Riley wasn't too sure about this big stranger, though. Mike & Kendall both work in The Cite 3-4 days a week, so with that commute, must lead a pretty hectic life keeping up with the two little ones. Mike has been a home winemaker, here in his garage, for a number of years. He plans to go commercial in rented/leased space this year with the '98 vintage. The one thing that really impressed me about Mike's operation was the quality of the grapes/Vineyards he's able to finaggle as a home winemaker. He currently manages a small Vineyard of a friend's that he plans to source grapes from, that was planted about 1918. A recent viticulture/typing of what he thought was an old Zin Vineyard revealed that it's actually 75% Mourvedre/Mataro, 25% Petite Sirah & Mondeuse/Refosco, w. 1 Folle Blanche vine and 1 Syrah vine. This last vine is something of immense interest; one wonders how this lonely Syrah vine got there, where it came from, and how it's related to other Syrah clones in Calif. Maybe someday there will be a famous "Officer" clone of Syrah??? So, it's out to the garage to taste a few wines (only took notes on the '96 versions):

Carlisle Cellars Teldeschi Vineyard Zinfandel '97 & '96: Very spicy slight coffee/toasted coconut spicy raspberry/light blackberry nose; lean racy/spicy toasted coconut light blackberry flavor
Carlisle Cellars Rossi Ranch Vineyard Zinfandel '97 & '96: More blackberry more richer/lusher light licorice/toasted oak nose; tart lean racy very spicy fairly alcoholic raspberry/blackberry some toasty/oaked flavor; bigger & richer than the Teldeschi but structured & tannic
Carlisle Cellars Teldeschi Vineyard & ??Vineyard Petite Sirah '97 & '96: Rather spicy/fruity some licorice/pungent toasty/oak flavor; med.tart spicy berry/peppery rather fruity flavor; much more spice & fruit than most PS's; a very well-made delicious Petite
Carlisle Cellars Old Vine Blend (Mourvedre/Mondeuse+others); lots of plummy/lush bit earthy/dusty nose; rather hard/tannic ripe plummy light toasty/oaked flavor; needs age, a very interesting red wine.
Mike's wine struck me as a rather lean racy stylish sorta claret-like reds; not the rich lushness of many; sort of in the style of Bannister/Haywood/J.Fritz/ maybe even Martinelli (witho the funky character they have). In fact, the Martinelli JackAss '96 I had @ ZAP (& liked a lot) reminded me of Mike's. And he gets good oak; used barrels from Williams/Selyem. The wines may be home-made; they are certainly not amateur wines; very professionally done. Eventually, Mike hopes to give up his "day job" and become a full-time winery owner/maker; but that's down the road aways.
So, Rachel & Riley had finished their meals, the cartoons they were ashowing, so we adjourned to the dining area for a really delicious & simple dinner:

French Bread with Olive Tapenade & Herbed Chevre
Al Dente Green Beans Mashed Potatoes
Pork Loin Farci with Apricot Sauce
Apple Crisp that really hit the spot.
And the wines:
Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec '96: lean stoney/earthy slight musty nose; tart clean crisp simple lean stoney/earthy flavor; nice pleasant drinking. *Fritz Roger's Reserve Zinfandel '95: Rich very lush huge blackberry some dusty/ oaked nose; rich tannic big blackberry dusty/old vines oaked flavor; by far the best Fritz Zin I've ever had, a huge wine.
Santino D'Agostine Vineyard Zinfandel '79: this was Scott Harvey's first own-Zin that he made as Santino's winemaker that he gave me for dinner earlier in the day, decanted like a degorgement upside down on Mike's front lawn: loads of pungent/charred/toasty/licorice/toasty oak rather dusty/complex nose; big pungent smokey/charred/toasty/dusty complex finish; not much fruit left & drying out a bit, but still very interesting to drink; much like the Swan '71 at Darrell's the night before.
All-in-all, a really nice evening with some great folks; one of the most enjoyable evenings on this trip. The evening was highlighted (note: highlighted, not marred) by two crisies: Riley, playing with a box of powdered sugar on the kitchen floor, managed to open the box & bag & dump half of it on himself afore I rescued it from him. So we both have our lower halves covered with powdered sugar. And these are bags that I have to struggle with to open with my bare hands.... the genuius of a small but curious little boy. And then Rachel couldn't find her blankey when it was time to go to bed... but a 5 minute search uncovered it. Been there, done that one before. Ahhhh, the chaos of kids..... can't be beat. So, back to the motel and crash.
Wednesday (1/22/98)

Up early for some fencing drills in the parking lot and over to the Coddington Mall for a morning espresso. Then over to Forestville to see Rod Berglund and taste at Joseph Swan Cellars. Joining me is Brad & Maureen Harrington from San Diego; he from the West Coast Wine Discussion Group BB I post often to. What a trip down memory lane this visit was. I hadn't been to the actual winery at Swan's since the winter of '74 or '75, when I was tasting there with the irrascible Joe Swan himself. He also had another guy working in the cellar that day that some may have heard of; guy by the name of Joel Peterson!! I hadn't actually met Rod before at all; and had been only spotty in following his wines; mostly the Zins; of which the Frati Ranch is always one of the best made in Calif. His wife, Lynn, I once met back around 1979 when I went to Joe's house (he was in Burgundy at the time) to pick up a case of his wine. Don't actually remember her... but sure do remember that little red bikini as she came in from the pool out back to turn it over to me!! Rod updates us on what all's going on at Swan these days, where his grapes are coming from, describes the various Vineyards, and such. Then it's into the barrels to taste a few things:

Swan SaraLee's Vineyard Pinot Gris '97: Lush rather fragrant/floral nose; rich & lush but a metallic/hard underbody with a floral flavor; nice wine much in the style of Trimbach PG.
Swan Angelo's Old Vine White '97: Bit reduced/pungent rather dusty/earthy some grapey nose; tart metallic hard earthy flavor; interesting, needs age
Swan Wolfspierre Estate Vineyard Chardonnay '97: Attractive ripe Chard/melony very spicy nose; hard quite spicy/ripe melony Chard flavor Swan SaraLee'sVineyard PinotNoir (Dijon clone) '97: Light color; rather light cherry/ dusty nose; spicy spearmint bright cherry flavor; rather Oregon in style
Swan Sara Lee's Vineyard Pinot Noir (Clone 667) '97: Stronger more spicy PN/cherry some pencilly nose; bit deeper more earthy black cherry flavor
Swan Sara Lee's Vineyard Pinot Noir (??? clone) '97: deeper yet more black cherry dusty earthy nose; bit softer flavor but much like Clone 667
Swan Steiner Vineyard Pinot Noir (Swan clone) '97: Bit reduced some earthy/black cherry dusty nose; lovely lush very spicy very black cherry some dusty/tobaccoy flavor
Swan Estate PinotNoir '97: Deep black cherry dusty/earthy very spicy/complex bit tobaccoy/pungent nose; a very spicy big Pinot Swan Estate CabFranc '97: Med.color; fragrant spicy/earthy slight smokey/ pungent nose; tart astringent bit candied/hard Christmas candy pungent/ earthy flavor; aytpical of CabFranc witho the usual herbal tones
Swan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon '97: Med.dark color; strong perfumed talc dusty/smokey nose; rather astringent perfumed/perfumed talc dusty some black cherry flavor; a bit like the Dehlinger CS but more Wagnerian Swan Mourvedre '97: Vineyard planted in 1910: Very strong black peppery nose; very spicy pungent/smokey/black pepper dusty flavor; thi is gonna be a killer Mourvedre sometime.
Swan Steiner Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon '97: Dark color; strong green olive herbal bit eucalyptus peppery nose; tart herbal cassis distinct green olive flavor; a pretty big hard Cab right now.
I was particularly impressed by Rod's Pinots, and that's clearly where his passion lies. The Zins we will taste down at ZAP on Saturday. Order a mixed 1.5 case to ship back home to NM. Make a quick run with Brad & Maureen over to DeLoach to pick up 3 btls of Estate Zinfandel '96 to demonstrate "dusty" at the Bacchus Bash on Sunday. Bid adieu to Brad&Maureen 'till Sat and head north to Healdsburg. Stop at he Oakville Grocery (Healdsburg branch) for another espresso and a sandwich &head over to Dry Creek Vineyards. I've followed Dave Stare's wines from the very first '72 Gamay; very underrated and reasonably priced wines. His wines these days are the best he's ever made. As I'm tasting there Dave comes in from lunch, recognizes me, and we visit for 10 minutes or so, then his daughter, Kim Stare Wallace, another long-time friend, join us. I get introduced to Molly, their computer geek (who sure doesn't look like one!!) whom I've traded e-mails with before. I had stopped by to say hello with Don Wallace, but he's off elsewhere, so catch him the next day. Head south down Hwy 101, across thru San Rafael and Oakland and over to Alameda.... once again getting the Webster Tube on the first shot!! Check into the Marina Village Inn, grab my gear, & head over to the Pacific Fencing Club there in Alameda. Alas, unexpectedly, no one is there,it's shut up tight. So back to the Inn, catch a few winks, update notes, and then off to Rosenblum Cellars for the evening's Zinfandel & Good Eats function.
This has always been a good ZAP function; smaller & much less crowded than the main ZAP tasting. Usually, it's just been restaurants in the East Bay area that provide the food. This year, it appeared that they opened it up to more restaurants/ food purveyers. Alas, too much time being the oeno-weenie taking notes & talking to winemakers & friends to try any of the food. The wines this year seem a bit less impressive than in previous years; perhaps the wineries were saving their big guns for the Friday night dinner/auction. Nevertheless, managed to get thru 20 wines:

Fife Napa Valley Vielles Vignes Zinfandel '96: Fairly spicy light raspberry nose; soft light bit dilute simple light raspberry light Fr. oaked flavor
*Fannuchi Zinfandel '96: Very dark color; very strong blackberry ripe dusty Zin nose; very rich extracted blackberry/peppery spicy some oaked flavor; a big rich bit rustic style of Zin; seems the best of the bunch here tonight but at at stupid price of $32; I'll pass on that.
Coturri Chauvet Vineyard Sonoma Valley Zinfandel '96: Very dark color; rather hot/volatile/ aromatic/ perfumed intense blackberry very ripe dusty nose; soft very intense blackberry/ boysenberry off-dry rather wet dog fur/oxidized flavor; dreadful oxidized/wet dog fur/ fecal finish with ample tannins; classic Coturri weird
Jeff Rundquist Massoni Ranch Amador Zinfandel '96: pleasant simple raspberry light oaked nose; soft slight Amador/briary light raspberry/ blackberry light oaked flavor; better than the '95 but underwhelming with little Amador character Storybook Eastern Exposure Zinfandel '95: light attractive raspberry bit simple nose; soft forward drinkable raspberry flavor; nice drinking but simple
Newlan Napa Valley Zinfandel '95: rather bretty/dusty some charred oak low fruit nose; tart lean rather hard bit bretty oaked low blackberry fruit flavor; a rather lean & hard Zin
Vigil Mohr-Fry Ranch Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel '94: rather stewed fruit Lodi/earthy/ dusty nose; soft plummy/earthy light blackberry flavor; lots of stewed fruit/ Lodi/earthy character
Amador Foothill Ferraro Ranch Zinfandel '95: lush forward ripe blackberry nose; softer lusher blackberry/ raspberry spicy light oaked flavor; much more forward & less lean/tart/austere than previous ones
Sobon Estate Couger Hill Zinfandel '96: pleasant ripe blackberry dusty bit simple nose; soft ripe blackberry flavor; fairly soft & drinkable for Sobon '96
*Rosenblum St. Peter's Church Zinfandel '96: forward lush blackberry spicy some oaked nose; soft ripe blackberry lush forward bit dusty light oaked flavor; much richer and more Rosenblum lushness than the '96's on Tues
*Rosenblum White Cottage Napa Valley Zin '96: bit more dusty/aromatic ripe blackberry/ black cherry nose; soft forward lush ripe blackberry/ black cherry dusty buttery/ oaked flavor; bigger & richer & a serious Rosenblum Zin
La Lonis Private Reserve Redwood Valley Zinfandel '95: strong raspberry/ Mendocino tomatoey lush bit dusty nose; soft lush spicy blackberry toamtoey dusty flavor; big & ripe & lush with good Mendocino character
Madrona El Dorado Reserve Zinfandel '96: dusty/earthy/mushroomy/metallic some blackberry Zin nose; soft earthy/dusty mushroomy light blackberry flavor; lots of that ElDorado/earthy character
*Hidden Cellars Mendocino Heritage Ford-Hitzman Zinfandel '95: Strong blackberry/dusty/ tomatoey/black cherry earthy nose; soft rich dusty old vines blackberry fairly extracted flavor; good acidity & big & ripe & extracted; best Hidden Cllrs Zin yet
*Coturri Family Estate Sonoma Valley Zinfandel '96: deep intense dusty very ripe black- berry some oaked nose; soft rich very intense blackberry mouthfilling huge flavor; huge extracted blackberry & less weird than most
Coturris Coturri Family Estate Sonoma Mountain Zin (14.25%) '96: intense dusty/blackberry rather bretty/horsecollar unclean nose; soft off-dry intense blackberry/dusty rather horsecollar/unclean/bretty some oxidized/wet dog fur flavor; interesting but typical rustic/unclean Coturri
*Sierra Vista Herbert Vineyard El Dorado Zinfandel '96: dusty/earthy rathe blackberry smokey/ pencilly oaked nose; strong dusty/mushroomy/earthy pencilly/oaked light blackberry flavor; a bit short on fruit but very interesting Zin
*Haywood Rocky Top Los Chamizal Vineyard Zinfandel '95: strong blackberry/dusty old vines ripe some toasty/oaked nose; rich lush buttery/oaked very ripe blackberry dusty/ old vines Zin flavor; one of the best here tonight
Montevina Terre d'Oro Amador County Zinfandel '95: light raspberry nose; simple light raspberry flavor; Amador Zin in the SutterHome style; dull
Clos du Lac Summer Zinfandel '96: strange strong blackberry dusty nose; shallow simple fruity rather dull flavor
The real disappointment/embarrassment was Ravenswoood. They were only pouring the Alexander Valley '95 Zin. It would have been much better for their reputation just not to show at this event; it did them no good tonight. Sometimes to just say "No" is the right thing to do. So.... a few really good Zins, a bunch of pleasant ones. Gotta kiss a few toads to find the prince. But probably the best part of the event was the chance to meet some of my friends from the various Wine BB's. Ruth/Saaz and her husband Stacy, who sorta just looked like he was along for the ride, was a treat. And finally get to meet Bacchus/Russell; one of the most special/ warmest human beings I've ever met; and his SO, Victoria. Plus several others that made the event so great. Hook up with Kent Rosenblum to line up some early morning BB activity, then off to the Marina Village Inn and crash about 11:00pm after a bit of reading/updating notes.
Friday (1/23/98)

Kent had offered to invite me as a guest at his athletic club over in Oakland for some morning basketball activity; so up at 5:00am to meet his 5:30 pickup. He finally shows up a bit afore 6:00am; which is pretty good as I expect he had to shut down the winery & probably didn't hit the bed before 1:00 or 2:00 am; and we won't ask how many ports.... one of Kent's passions!! So thru the Posey Tube to Oakland and out on the court for about 1.5 hrs of non-stop BB action. Hadn't done that much in a number of years. Although white guys can't jump, I didn't shame my race!! Then back to the Marina Village Inn, clean up, and head north to meet up with Norm Roby.

I first met Norm when he was writing for Vintage magazine (shhhhh; that was NOT the high point of his wine journalism career) at a dinner at Darrell Corti's about 1974. Although I have followed his writings fairly closely since then (since I regard him as one of the few wine journalists around that has any competence or an original idea in his head), I had lost personal contact with him. Until several months, when an e-mail dropped out of CyberSpace onto my terminal, asking if I was THE Tom Hill he once knew. So we made arrangements to get together on this trip. Heading up Hwy 101, I stop at Traverso's in Santa Rosa to check out their wine. Tempted by a few things, but don't buy anything. However Darryl Groome of Geyser Peak/ Venezia is there also buying some stuff for a tasting; hard to miss his accent; so chat a bit with him. Then on up to the Oakville Grocery (again) to hook up with Norm. Go down the street and bond over a cup of espresso, catching up on a 20 yr gap in our lives. Thought we'd taste a few wines before lunch, so head west to visit Rabbit Ridge and taste thru some 8-10 of their wines. Run into friends from San Diego; long-ago school chum Chuck Wilson, and Ron & Judy Ridgeway, all up for ZAP. The RR wines are pleasant enough but all pretty dominated by pencilly oak. The 3 Puffs Rabbit Ridge Estate Reserve '96 (you sure blew that one, Charlie) is nice, pretty oaked, but overpriced by $10 at its $30 price tag. Stop at Rochioli but no one there. So back to Healdsburg, pick up my car, and follow Norm out to his & Ginny Mills home on Dutcher Creek Road. It's drizzling pretty steady, it's very overcast & gloomy; but Ginny's lunch certainly brightened up the day:

Sauteed Chicken Breasts on a Zuchinni/Curry Coulis
Mesclun Salad with Roasted Walnuts
And the wines:
Bridgeman Washington State Syrah '95: attractive pleasant gamey/dusty slight herbal nose witho the very strong oak of most WashState wines; soft pleasant light gamey/ herbal/dusty flavor; a pleasant interesting Syrah, neither Calif or Rhone-like
Benessere Napa Valley Sangiovese '95: fairly rich oaked some blackberry/black cherry Sangiovese nose; tart hard rich black cherry/ toasty Fr. oaked flavor; needs some 3-6 years of age; pretty big & rich Sangiovese much like the Luna or Flora Springs.
Dehlinger Estate Chardonnay '95: lovely ripe melony/Chard some toasty/Fr.oaked nose; rich firm structured very spicy ripe melony/Chard some toasty/oaked flavor; a really lovely Chard with some structure & spiciness to it
We chat a bit longer about his New Releases Newsletter, wine activities on the 'Net, and various other topics. Then I depart south, stop at Dry Creek Vineyards, visit for 30 minutes or so with Don Wallace, than back onto Hwy 101 for the trip into The Cite. Traffic is not so bad, make good time down there, and check into the Chelsea St. Inn on Lombard St. Catch a few winks, then walk the 3-4 blocks to Claudia & Dave's for dinner. Dave did a stint in a very good restaurant up in Vail for about a year, so really can crank out a good meal. Claudia just gets back from Los Angeles at the same time I arrive; but Dave is well on top of the dinner:
Blau Castello Souffle with Sliced Apples & Mixed Greens
I can't believe it; I forgot to take notes on the main course: vaguely recall some little birds and mashed potatoes... sorry, Dave; I do remember that it was outstanding!!
Soft Chocolate Souffle with Orange Zest & Orange Creme Anglaise: and absolutely killer chocolate dessert made with Venzuealean El Rey chocolate
And the wines, as usual, were (mostly) outstanding:
Clos du Val Napa Valley Chardonnay '90: slightly musty/perhaps corked dusty light valve oil rather tired nose; tart lean dusty/earthy dried out flavor; probably never much of a Chard to which time has not been kind
El Molino Napa Valley Pinot Noir '90: very spicy very black cherry lots of toasted/oak complex nose; beautiful very spicy ripe black cherry toasty/pencilly oaked flavor; a beautiful complex very Burgundian Pinot
Clarendon Hills Shiraz '94: very intense essence of blackberry some toasty oaked nose; soft very rich essence of blackberry/Shiraz lots of sweet/vanilla oak flavor; a huge rich drinkable Aussie Shiraz
Ridge Zinfandel Essence (13.4%; SaH: 40.3%; 17.2% r.s) Paso Robles Dusi Ranch '93: sweet very intense essence of blackberrys bit alcoholic some jammy flavor but no raisened or late harvesty character
Another great meal with the most special of friends. Walk back (least I think I did) to the Chelsea St. Inn in a bit of a fog & crash.
Saturday (1/24/98)

Up early, off to the nearby park for some fencing drills on the tennis courts, then down to Chestnut St. to have a morning espresso. Recopy some notes, read all about Monica in the newspapers, then walk the 5-6 blocks to the Ft. Mason Heritage Pavillon for the big ZAP tasting. Chat a bit with Paul Draper as he enters the bldg, then finally follow the mob in with Gary Eberle when the doors open.

This large venue, with very few tables scattered about, is rather difficult to take much in the way of notes. Nonetheless, I give it my best shot. The notes are a bit sketchy, but not because of the alcohol. I had along my trusty red spitoon and actually didn't drink but one wine (the Eberle Sauret, when I was finished). The following notes are in alphabetical, not chronological, order:

*Alberbrook Dry Creek Valley George's Vineyard Zinfandel '96: dusty smokey old vines some blackberry nose; fairly rich big blackberry dusty flavor; best Alderbrook Zin I've ever had
Amador Foothill Murrill Vineyard Amador Zinfandel '96: attractive Amador/briary blackberry nose; fairly soft ripe light blackberry flavor; forward for an Amador Foothill Zin this young
Bannister Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel '96: attractive fairly spicy light raspberry nose; soft buttery/oaked raspberry flavor; nice Zin
*Biale Old Crane Ranch Zinfandel '96: spicy lush blackberry sweet oak/pencilly nose; soft rich lush blackberry vanilla/oak flavor
Biale Sonoma Monte Rosso Zinfandel '96: lovely fragrant spicy raspberry/blackberry nose; fairly soft rich spicy raspberry/blackberry pencilly/oak flavor; not the usual lean & taut Monte Rosso
*Biale Aldo's Vineyard Zinfandel '96: very spicy perfumy ripe blackberry vanilla/oak nose; soft lush blackberry/dusty some charred oak flavor
Biale Val Secci Sonoma Zinfandel '96: forward lush blackberry nose; ripe very raspberry/ spicy falvor; nicely done Zin Canard Napa Valley Zinfandel '96: simple light blackberry nose; tart lean light blackberry flavor; unexciting
*Buehler Estate Napa Valley Zinfandel '95: ripe pungent/pencilly/licorice toasty blackberry nose; soft smooth pencilly ripe blackberry dusty flavor; wonderful balance
*Cline Cellars Contra Costa Big Break Zin '96: strong plummy CC Zin dusty nose; big rich plummy dusty CC Zin blackberry flavor; another Cline winner
Cosentino California The Zinfandel '96: lots of minty/menthol/ pencilly/oaked some raspberry nose; spicy raspberry very minty/menthol oak flavor
Dashe Cellars Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel '96: strong dusty raspberry light oaked nose; pleasant light blackberry oaked flavor; nice Zin but just that DeerPark BeattyRanch Howell Mountain Zinfandel '95: bit funky/bretty/some unclean Zin; not a lot of fruit nor Howell Mountain character
Deux Amis Sonoma County Zinfandel '96: buttery/oak bright raspberry nose; pleasant very buttery/Am.oaked spicy raspberry flavor; nice raspberry Zin Dover Canyon Templeton Gap Paso Robles Zinfandel '96: ripe blackberry/jammy very grapey fresh fermentation nose; soft very ripe blackberry/jammy flavor
**Eric Ross Old Vines Occidental Zinfandel '95: very intense ripe blackberry very dusty/ old vines Zin flavor; a big killer Zin
**Eric Ross Old Vines Occidental Zinfandel '96: same very intense blackberry bit jammy very dusty old vines flavor; another killer Zin
Eberle Steinbeck Vineyard Paso Robles Zinfandel '96: attractive fragrant raspberry/blackberry nose; tart strong raspberry bright bit lean flavor
***Eberle Sauret Vineyard Paso Robles (16.6%) Zinfandel '96: beautiful lush very fragrant aromatic perfummy ripe blackberry light pencilly/oak nose; soft rich very lush blackberry very spicy perfumy/aromatic dusty old vines flavor; carries the alcohol very very will; Gary's best Zin yet; wonderful stuff
Fife Vineyards Red Head Vineyard Redwood Valley Zinfandel '96: bright pleasant clean raspberry Zin nose; some pencilly/oaked soft simple pleasant raspberry flavor
*Folie A Deux Old Vine Amador D'Agostini Vineyard Zinfandel '96: strong blackberry/briary some pencilly/oaked very fragrant nose; soft lush very spicy blackberry/briary some oaked/cedary/pencilly flavor; very good Amador Zin
*Folie a Deux Fiddletown/ Eschen Vineyard Zinfandel '96: strong dusty blackberry/black cherry some tobaccoy nose; rich lush blackberry/black cherry dusty/old vines flavor; doesn't have that usual hard as nails Eschen tanins
*Folie A Deux Amador Syrah '96: black color; deep dusty very intense blackberry/ Syrah bit gamey/dusty/roasted flavor; best Syrah here at ZAP!! :-)
**Fritz Roger's Reserve Zinfandel '96: beautiful lush ripe blackberry dusty/old vines very spicy/licorice nose; strong dill/Am.oaked intense blackberry/dusty old vines flavor; another killer Roger's Reserve
Gallo Sonoma Estate Barrelli Creek Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel '95: pleasant dusty raspberry bit bretty flavor; nicely done but just that Karly Warrior Fires Amador County Zinfandel '95: deep dusty Amador blackberry/briary nose; soft rather dusty/earthy light briary flavor; pleasant enough King Estate Oregon Zinfandel '94: deep dusty pungent low fruit some toasty/oak nose; strange dusty/cranberry light lean flavor; unusual wine
*Lamborn Family French Connection Howell Mountain Zinfandel '95: deep HM/dusty some blackberry pencilly oak nose; roch some blackberry dusty/HM flavor; best LF in years
*Martinelli JackAss Vineyard Russian River Valley Zinfandel '96: lovely bright raspberry very spicy pencilly/ charred/toasty oak nose; tart hard very spicy/raspberry rather charred/toasty oak flavor; lotta people didn't like this Zin; unusual but I liked it a lot
Midnight Cellars (14.2%) Dusi Ranch Paso Robles Zinfandel '96: Lush spicy blackberry/jammy nose; elegant blackberry/jammy black cherry flavor; lots of PR Zin character
Milano Winery Sanel Valley Mendocino Zinfandel '95: light bit dusty light blackberry nose; off-dry very ripe simple dusty/blackberry flavor; nice for the $12 price
Peachy Canyon Especial Paso Robles Zinfandel '96: bit light very ripe blackberry/jammy nose; soft ripe jammy/blackberry flavor; bit on light side
Peachy Canyon Dusi Ranch Paso Robles Zinfandel '96: ripe peppery/blackberry jammy spicy nose; fairly rich peppery/spicy blackberry jammy flavor; a good PC Zin
Preston Dry Creek Valley Estate Zinfandel '96: light pleasant simple raspberry Zin
Preston Dry Creek Valley Estate Zinfandel '90: slighht bretty some complex/smokey raspberry nose; soft spicy raspberry/licorice flavor
**Ridge Vineyards Pagani Ranch Zinfandel '96: classic plummy Pagani very ripe blackberry some oaked nose; big ripe blackberry pungent plummy black cherry cola flavor; another killer Pagani
*Ridge Vineyards Lytton Springs Zinfandel '96: bright fragrant forward very spicy raspberry/ blackberry some oaked nose; ripe raspberry/blackberry some buttery/oak flavor; another lovely LS
*Ridge Vineyards Paso Robles Dusi Ranch Zinfandel '96: light blackberry/earthy bit jammy/PR nose; soft very lush ripe blackberry jammy/bit boysenberry/dusty flavor; a very nice drinking Ridge
**Ridge Vineyards Lytton Estate ATP Zin '96: much bigger/richer blackberry some plummy/ black cherry bit oaked nose; big rich some tannic hard ripe blackberry/ dusty flavor; beautiful Zin more like Geyserville than LS
Ravenswood Monte Rosso Vineyard Zinfandel '96: light color; fragrant spicy bright raspberry nose; tart bright spicy raspberry clean flavor; nice but just that
*Ravenswood Cooke Vineyard Zinfandel '96: deep lush dusty/blackberry/licorice riep spicy pungent nose; big ripe lush blackberry/boysenberry dusty flavor; a classic Rvsnwd Zin
*Renwood Jack Rabbit Flat Amador Zinfandel '96: fragrant bright raspberry/blackberry very spicy nose; tart spicy raspberry/blackberry some briary flavor; more like DryCreek Zin than Amador; very nicely done Zin
**Saddleback Old Vines Napa Valley Zin '95: intense blackberry/dusty toasty/pungent oak nose; big rich charred oak intense blackberry flavor; killer Zin loaded with lots of toasty oak **Saddleback OldVines NapaVlly Zinfandel '96: same intense blackberry/dusty flavor with a bit less charred/toasty oak
*Saucelito Canyon Estate Arroyo Grande Zinfandel '96: vety ripe blackberry/jammy very spicy dusty nose; soft lush rich blackberry jammu very spicy dusty flavor; another very good SC Zin
St. Francis Old Vines Sonoma Zinfandel '96: very intense blackberry some pungent/oak nose; soft rather tannic blackberry/dusty flavor; doesn't seem so overwhelming milky/Am.oak as previous ones
Schuetz-Oles Korte Ranch Zinfandel '96: strong blackberry/dusty nose; fairly rich blackberry dusty old vines flavor; not as hard & lean as before Sobon Estate RockyTop ShenandoahVlly Zinfandel '96: big blackberry/dusty bit bretty/ funky nose; ripe blackberry/dusty briary flavor; bigger than the '95
*Sobon Estate Fiddletown/ Lubenko Vineyard Zinfandel '96: classic licorice/pungent/smokey dusty some blackberry nose; rather tannic/lean rich licorice/pungent flavor; always my favorite of the Sobons
*Storrs Santa Cruz Mountains Zinfandel '95: deep dusty smokey pungent blackberry nose; tart dusty ripe blackberry pungent Santa Cruz Mountain earthy flavor; their best Zin since the stunning '91
**Swan Vineyards Frati Ranch Russian River Valley Zinfandel '96: deep ripe blackberry/boysenberry/dusty slight bretty/horsecollar pungent nose; big ripe dusty/blackberry/pungent/licorice boysenberry flavor; another killer Frati
*Swan Vineyards Zeigler Vineyard Russian River Valley Zinfandel '96: strong ripe blackberry spicy aromatic nose; lovely lush ripe blackberry dusty very spicy flavor; seems Rod's best Zeigler yet Easton OldVines Shenandoah Zin '96: intense blackberry/Amador briary nose; bit tart lean tannic ripe blackberry/dusty flavor
**Easton Eschen Vineyard/ Fiddletown Zin '96: calssic Eschen black cherry blackberry some briary nose; big rich smokey black cherry/blackberry some tannic flavor; Bill's best Zin yet
*Tria Napa Valley Zin '96: beautiful fragrant spicy raspberry pencilly/oaked nose; light spicy raspberry elegant pencilly flavor; very Pinot-like **Tria DryCreekVlly Zin '96: deep dusty very spicy pencilly/blackberry nose; soft lush blackberry very pencilly/cedary oak flavor; lovely elegant Zin Truchard Estate Zin '96: lovely minty/menthol oaked some blackberry nose; very soft lush blackberry blackberry/dusty some charred/oak flavor; much cleaner than the '95
**Turley Hayne Vineyard Napa Valley Zin '96: big deep ripe blackberry very peppery/dusty nose; very big rich intense blackberry licorice peppery dusty flavor; a classic extracted Turley Zin Turley
Hoot-SmalleyVineyard White Zin '97: light pinkish/salmon color; tart clean bright cranberry flavor; at 19.3%, right up there with the Sutter Homes.
Wellington Vineyards Russian River Valley Zin '96: attractive dusty light blackberry nose; soft lush blackberry bit earthy flavor; nice drinking zin for $14
*Wellington Vineyards Sonoma Valley Casa Santinamaria Zin '96: strong blackberry some oaked dusty old vines nose; soft big ripe lush blackberry forward fruit flavor; good value at $16
Windsor Vineyards Old Vine Russian River Valley Zin '96: light soft pleasant simple raspberry Zin; rather unexciting at $14
Carol Shelton Signature Alexander Valley Zin '95: pleasant blackberry fruity nose; soft buttery/oaked light blackberry flavor; pleasant but just that
Zoom ContinenteVineyard Old Vines Contra Costa Zin '96: fairly lush blackberry plummy some CC/earthy nose; soft plummy ripe flavor; much like the early Clines
So.... some 64 wines tasted in about four hours.... an awfully shabby performance. Knew I should have trained harder for this event. Missed a few important wines like the Geyserville. To me, the best wine of the day was the Eberle Sauret; probably Gary's best Zin ever; lots of alcohol but still everything in balance and not overripe tasting. The discovery was the Eric Ross Zins. Located on the old Sea Ridge property and taking their grapes from the old Morrelli Vineyard; the wines were some like the old Ridge Occidentals. I was impressed across the board with the Biale Zins. The Ridge Zins were just as good as the '95's. I sure didn't see a lot of signs that the "96's are a "light" vintage as others did; maybe not as extracted as the earlier vntages, maybe not as alcoholic as earlier vintages; but certainly not "light".
Again visit with a few friends in the business and from the 'Net and help close the place down at 5:00pm. Walk back to the motel. Go across the street to check out the Plump Jack wine shop. Not overly impressed. Then join San Diego friends Chuck Wilson and Ron&Judy Ridgeway for dinner across the street at a Cuban/Tapas restaurant. The food was quite tasty, the wine just OK; the company splendid; but feel out of the wine-geek mode & didn't take any notes. Back to the motel, recopy & flesh out some notes, and then crash.

SuperBowl Sunday (1/25/98)

Sleep in 'till 7:30, go down to do some footwork drills, and then do a morning espresso. Read the newspapers, recopy notes; then Dave & Claudia pick me up & it's off to the Tuscan Inn for the Bacchus/Russell ZAP Tasting Rump Session. This is a special Bacchus Bash that Russell has organized for a lot of us who post regularly to the WS Zinfandel board; of which he (Bacchus/Russell) is probably the most frequent & dedicated. The chance to meet in person many of the people I correspond with in CyberSpace frequently was one of the high points of this trip. But as poor as I am with names, having to remember 2 for each person (real name & sign-on moniker) is almost hopeless. So forgive me, you all, when we meet again & I can't dredge up the right name!

Russell's idea was to have some of us so-called Zin experts serve up a Zin to everyone that demonstrated some particular facet of Zin. My job was to demonstrate "dusty", a term I often use (really, overuse) to describe a unique taste in old-vine Zins. Like the "Rutherford dust", that ethereal quality is sometimes difficult and virtually impossible to describe. When I first had the DeLoach Estate Zin '96; that was a wine loaded with dusty/old vine character. So I picked up some bottles a few days earlier for my coming out afore my Zinfans. But..... say wot.... there was not a speck of dust to be found in that wine this day. I was totally humiliated & embarassed in front of all these ZinFans, booed & hissed at for my abject failure, and hooted off the center stage, retreating to my table with my tail atwixt my legs!! After several of these short guest lectures/tastings, all of which, unlike mine, received a stirring round of aplause, we then entered a free-for-all phase; opening single, sometimes special, bottles each atendee had brought. Ever the oeno-weenie; I took notes on most of them before just sitting back, drinking some Zin, visiting with new friends, and watching a bit of the game (Russell made sure a TV was there).

The wines, in chronological order:

Biale Dyer Ranch Zin '92: slight dried out some raspberry/Am.oak some complex nose; tart bit dried out light raspberry some Fr.oaked flavor; getting a bit tired and dried out; drink up
Thunder Mountain Dusi Ranch Paso Robles Zin '92: wine made by Milan of Santa Cruz as a home winemaker: very ripe very jammy blackberry some dusty/old vines nose; soft light lush blackberry dusty/old vines bit dried out flavor. The first bttl of this displayed a lot of wet dog fur/oxidized character but the other two btls did not; lovely & complex but nearing its peak if beyond
**Ridge Lytton Springs Zin '93: brought by Dave Jones: lovely lush blackberry dusty complex oaked perfumed nose; rich lush balanced dusty ripe blackberry complex oaked flavor; one of the best Ridge LS I've had in years
*Swan Frati Ranch (15.6%) Zin '95: very strong old vine/dusty deep blackberry/ boysenberry some pencilly oaked nose; very intense big ripe blackberry very dusty old vines boysenberry/framboise flavor; huge & intense PunchDown MonteRosso Zin '94: this was a home-made/near commercial wine brought by its maker: pungent licorice pretty ripe blackberry nose; tart spicy bit lean bright raspberry/blackberry slight oak flavor; as good as any of the MonteRossos tasted on Sat
St.Francis Pagani Ranch Reserve Zin '94: very strong Am.oaked smokey pungent some blackberry fruit nose; very soft very strong milky/Am.oaked very ripe plummy flavor; still quite good but doesn't seem to be going anywhere
De Loach Estate Zin '96: strong raspberry oaked clean nose; very tart lean bit hard tannic bright blackberrys/raspberry character; where's the dust??
Lytton Springs PrivateReserve Zin '85: rather musty/funky somewhat alcoholic pungent licorice vanilla/brandy barrel nose; soft rich some blackberry rather hot/alcoholic bit musty flavor; a bit funky but interesting; drying out & should be drunk
*Saddleback Napa Valley (14.3%) Zin '94: intense pungent/smokey/toasty/charred very intense blackberry/boysenberry nose; tart rich mouthfilling very pungent/ charred/toasty/smokey intense blackberry/dusty flavor; loaded with dusty/ blackberry fruit & charred/toasty oak; killer stuff of a unique style
Grape Leaf Cellars Alexander Valley Zin '97: an amateur wine brought by Tom ??: lovely lush ripe blackberry nose; off-dry very peppery/blackberry flavor; lots of fresh fermentation character
Black Sheep Amador County Zin '92: strong licorice/spicy sausage briary/pungent nose; rich very pungent licorice spicy/briary flavor; this was BS's first really good Zin & still is very good; subsequent efforts have not been as good as this one
**Hanna Pourroy Vineyard (13.5%) Alexander Valley Reserve Zin '96: very strong very lush intense blackberry/boysenberry/cassis nose; very ripe very rich intense blackberry some milky/Am.oak flavor; that Alex Valley softness but very intense fruit
Sine Ann Oregon Zin '96: very spicy very peppery earthy/dusty bit metallic nose; tart metallic dusty hard tannic smokey pungent flavor; verrrry interesting wine if atypical that needs age
Spenker Lodi Zin '95: intense jammy/blueberry plummy/earthy/mushroomy nose; very soft fat lush plummy/blueberry some dusty/earthy/Lodi flavor; a good drink Zin for a good price
*Sea Ridge Occidental (13.5%) Zin '91: intense pungent/toasty licorice rather funky blackberry nose; intense blackberry very licorice Dr.Pepper/cola very dusty toasty/oaked flavor; one of the best bttls of a rather eccentric & variable Zin
*Gary Farrell Russian River Valley Zin '95: pencilly/oaked bright fragrant raspberry slight mushroomy nose; tart very spicy very bright raspberry flavor; an absolutely superb great drinking Zin
*Martinelli JackAss Hill Zin '95: my first tasting of this since ZAP'97, where I thought it a badly flawed wine: bit stinky/reduced bit fecal low key blackberry/boysenberry some charred/toasty oak nose; soft rich lush blackberry charred oak funky bit unclean flavor; a bit on the weird side but I found it an interesting Zin
Ravenswood Monte Rosso Napa Valley Zin '93: dusty/old vines rather bright raspberry blackberry oaked nose; tart bit lean spicy light raspberry some toasty Fr.oak flavor; getting a bit better with age
La Lonis Mendocino Reserve Zin '94: dusty/earthy ripe blackberry nose; soft rich blackberry/dusty some oaked flavor; good Mendocino character
**Buehler Napa Valley Zin '80: one I brought from the archives that has been so impressive over the last 5-6years; Zins DO age: strong pungent licorice complex smokey some blackberry/plummy rather dusty almost Barolo-like floral nose; lush big blackberry pungent/toasty/smokey cloves/spicy very complex flavor; drying out a but but still a big complex old Zin
Buehler Napa Valley Zin '81: some pungent/toasty bit charred less fruit nose; softer more dried out some blackberry rather charred/toasty/pungent flavor; not the depth or fruit of the '80
Joseph Swan Northern Sonoma Zin '84: pungent dusty/earthy some oaked little fruit nose; soft flat light raspberry some dusty/oaked flavor; interesting but a bit tired & drying out
Ridge Park-Muscatine Howell Mountain (13.7%) Zin '86: dusty old/vines licorice HM dusty nose; soft spicy dusty low fruit complex pungent flavor; not going anywhere fast but not up to earlier vintages
Rafanelli Dry Creek Valley Zin '94: dusty old vines pungent blackberry rather bretty nose; soft spicy blackberry/dusty bit bretty/oaked flavor
Lo Lonis Mendocino Zin Private Reserve '95: slight volatile aromatic ripe blackberry nose; soft bit fat lush blackberry bit hot flavor
Rabbit Ridge Grand Reserve Sonoma County Zin '95: strong pencilly oaked some toasty dusty blackberry nose; soft very pencilly/very oaked toasty light blackberry flavor; loads of oak but needs fruit Steele DuPrattVineyard Mendocino Zin '94: strong pencilly/Fr.oak toasty/smokey little fruit nose; very strong very pencilly/oak spicy light blackberry flavor; all JedSteele winemaking & little DuPratt Zin Conrad Viano Reserve Solano ContraCostaCnty SandRockHill Vineyard Zin '94: very ripe plummy CC blackberry bit overripe/raisened nose; very soft fat spicy CC/plummy flavor; bit on simple side
David Bruce Late Harvest Sweet (17.5%) Zin '71: stinky/pungent/licorice bit musty very alcoholic no fruit nose; off-dry pungent/licorice smokey very hot/ alcoholic/brandy-like dried-out cough syrup flavor; weird stuff dominated by the alcohol: this is a wine I brought to demonstrate that high-alcohol Zins can age; this one is DOA.... deader than a doornail
Peachy Canyon Eastside Zin '95: rather pungent blackberry/jammy nose; light blackberry jammy dusty flavor; like the other PC '95's, a bit on the light and thin side
Storybook Estate Reserve Zin '91: earthy/dusty little fruit nose; lean light raspberry oaked bit hard/lean/thin flavor; needs more age??
Sobon Estate Fiddletown Lubenko Vineyard Zin '95: rather pungent/licorice/smokey some blackberry nose; rather dusty/pungent hard tannic bit lean light blackberry flavor; lots of pungent/Lubenko character but lost some fruit LaLonis Orpheus Petite Sirah '95: deep pungent peppery dusty oaked nose; very soft fat light peppery dusty flavor; nice but just that
**Dunham Washington State Cabernet '95: very intense smokey/herbal pungent/toasty intense WAState Cab fruit nose; big rich intense smokey/pungent/earthy rather herbal/WAState Cab flavor; a big huge Can that needs age
So, some 34 wines this afternoon. Some were absolutely stunning, most were very good, and a few had seen their day. Drop out of the wine-geek mode and go back and drink some of the better ones, visit with the people, and watch the last as the Broncos pull it out... much to the anguish of Scott/WilWine.... the totally obnoxious behavior by Judson & Russell for the Bronco victory not helping his demeanor in the very least.
Ride back to the Chelsea with Dave & Claudia, but the festivities are beginning to catch up, so we eschew dinner out that night. I catch some shuteye, up around 8:30pm and head up the street for dinner. I had eaten at Prego back in the '70's when the Italian food wave was just hitting it's stride. The meal was absolutely terrific. Tonight's meal:

Canellini Bean Soup with Winter Vegetables
Grilled Scamorza & Bread with Anchovy Butter & Fresh Rosemary
Duck Ragout Gnocchi with Fresh Porcini
Hazelnut & Pecan Crostatta
and the wines:
Sturm Tocai Friuli
Rosso de Montalcino
Alas, the food and the wine were imminently forgetable. So sad. Back to the Cheslea Inn and crash.
Monday (1/26/98)

Up very early, back down to the San Jose Airport, onto the plane home, lots of ZZZZ's along the way; and back to the real world.

So, it was a great trip.... good food, good wines, special friends... can't be beat. Grand total of 260 wines, for those into numbers. Sorry no 100 pt scores or lists.