by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

 

A Few New Reds (mostly Zins)
Tasted a few weeks back some new reds, mostly Zins:
Eberle Paso Robles Barbera (13.5%) '96: Med.colr; classic spicy Barbera/dusty/ cinnamon&cloves/cherry nose; tart very spicy/cinnamon&cloves spicy Barbera/ spicy sausage some Italian-like flavor; long very tart very spicy/Barbera slight brett cinnamon&cloves light oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs a few yrs; a bit lighter than previous ones, probably because the '96 has some young-vine Steinbeck Vineyard added to the mostly Norman Vineyard.
Il Podere dell'Olivos Santa Barbara County Barbera Riserva Buon Natale Bien NacidoVineyard (13%) '96: Very dark color; bit stinky/reduced big rich smokey lush BN/black cherry fruit spicy nose; tart bit pungent/reduced/burnt rubber big huge lush black cherry/mouthfilling pungent/smokey oaked flavor; long very tart rich lush black cherry/BN spicy sausage finish w/ fair tannins & slight brett; needs 3-5 yrs; loads ob BN/black cherry fruit; a terrific Barbera.
Eberle Paso Robles Steinbeck Vineyard (13.5%) Zin '96: Med.light color; attractive spicy raspberry light pencilly/oaked nose; soft spicy raspberry bit earthy light cloves/oak flavor; med.long light spicy/raspberry earthy bit toasted/ cloves finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant drinking lighter Zin.
Rosenblum Cellars Howell Mountain Zin White Cottage Vineyard (13.7%) '96: Med.color; bright lush Zinberry some pencilly/oak dusty/old vines nose; soft very bright high- toned Zinberry/buttery light earthy light pencilly/oak flavor; very long bright Zinberry/raspberry/spicy light earthy finish w/ light tannins; a nicely done lush Rosenblum Zin w/ a bit of Howell Mountain/earthy character.
Elyse Napa Valley Howell Mountain (12.9%) Zin '96: Very dark color; deep earthy/dusty/ HM some blackberry/lush slight brett nose; soft rich lush blackberry some earthy/walnutty/dusty bit tannic flavor; very long rich ripe blackberry bit dusty/earthy finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; an attractive forward lush Zin.
Villa Mt. Eden Sonoma Valley Zin Grand Reserve Monte Rosso Vineyard (15.7%) '96: Dark color; bit pungent blackberry dusty/old vine pencilly/cedary/oak nose; tart bright raspberry/blackberry pungent/toasty/oaked flavor; long bit pungent toasty/oak blackberry/raspberry/spicy finish w/ some tannins; carries the alcohol well; nicely done wine but that typical MonteRosso narrowness on the palate.
Robert Biale Sonoma Valley Zin Monte Rosso Vineyard (15.4%) '96: Med.dark color; very attractive raspberry rather pencilly/Fr.oak very spicy bright nose; tart very spicy bright high-toned raspberry very pencilly/Fr.oaked elegant/zippy flavor; very long pencilly/Fr.oaked very spicy/raspberry/Zinberry high-toned bright finish w/ light tannins; lots of bright very spicy raspberry character; one of the better Monte Rosso Zins I've had.
Robert Biale Sonoma Valley Zin Valsecchi Vineyard (15.4%) '96: Med.dark color; very intense bright forward lush raspberry ripe dusty/old vine vanilla/pencilly/oak nose; tart rich lush bright raspberry/some blackberry buttery/pencilly/vanilla Fr.oak complex dusty/old vine flavor; very long lush blackberry/raspberry dusty/old vine finish; a terrific Zin much in the style of Maggie's/Samsul but more oaked.
Robert Biale Napa Valley Zin Aldo's Vineyard (14.6%) '96: Med.color; rich lush bright raspberry/blackberry dusty/old vines complex fragrant/aromatic classic Napa Vlly Zin nose; soft rich lush raspberry/blackberry very spicy buttery/pencilly oak dusty/old vines very aromatic flavor; very long elegant very spicy/ raspberry lush dusty/old vines pencilly/oak aromatic finish w/ light tannins; a beautiful elegant pencilly/raspberry Zin.
Robert Biale Napa Valley Zin Old Crane Ranch (15.4%) '96: Med.dark color; deep pungent licorice dusty/old vines pencilly/vanilla/oak smokey nose; soft rich lush blackberry/boysenberry dusty/old vines chocolaty pungent/pencilly/oak finish w/ some tannins; the biggest & richest of the Biales; a lovely big rich blackberry/lush Zin.
Rosenblum Cellars Sonoma Valley Zin Samsel Vineyard/Maggie's Reserve (14.9%) '96: Med. dark color; intense lush blackberry/boysenberry dusty/old vines classic Samsel chocolaty/licorice nose; soft ripe blackberry/boysenberry rich dusty/old vines pungent complex some oaked flavor; very long ripe blackberry/boysenberry chocolaty dusty/old vines some toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; a bit lighter than previous Samsels but a classic Maggie's Reserve.
Joseph Swan Russian River Valley Zin Frati Ranch (14.1%) '96: Very dark color; rather pungent/burnt rubber/reduced very dusty/old vines intense blackberry/ boysenberry some pencilly/toasty/oak nose; tart rich intense boysenberry/ blackberry dusty/old vine toasty oak/pungent flavor; long boysenberry/black- berry dusty/old vines toasty/oak finish w/ some tannins; a classic old vine Frati but a bit lighter than previous ones. Terrific Zin.

And the usual pomposities from the bloody pulpit:
The Biales in the '96 vintage are a very successful set of Zins. The '95's were much lighter/more delicate/elegant style of Zin that many were very disenchanted with (I wasn't). These are much bigger & richer Zins but still have that elegant/racy/stylish character to them; very well-made Zins.
So the "alleged" lightness of the '96 vintage: doesn't show in the Biales; some in the Swan and the Samsel, but not striking; IMHO.