by Tom Hill

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

 

New Zinfandels
Tasted recently some New Zinfandels:
Greenwood Ridge Alexander Valley Scherrrer Vnyd (14.2%) Zinfandel '97: Med.color; very bright spicy Zinberry/raspberry forward/lush nose; soft bright spicy/Zinberry/raspberry light dusty ripe/forward flavor; med.long tart bright/Zinberry/raspberry very spicy forward finish w/ light tannins; a bright lush forward spicy Zinfandel; not the depth of Fred Scherrer's '97 but just a nice-drinking forward Zinfandel at a great price. $14.00
Seghesio Alexander Valley Zinfandel Home Ranch (14.4%) '97: Med.dark color; rather meaty/ dusty/old vines earthy/pungent/smokey rather blackberry fairly complex nose; tart spicy/meaty/dusty/old vines some oaked rather lush blackberry smokey flavor; long meaty/dusty/old vines blackberry some Am.oaked finish w/ some tannins; a fairly complex well-made Zinfandel w/ more structure than most Alexander Valley Zins.
Ravenswood Sonoma County Zinfandel (14.2%) OldVine '97: Med.color; rather simple/perfumed talc slight oaked light raspberry/Zinfandel nose; light spicy/raspberry light oaked simple finish; med.short light raspberry light oaked finish w/ light tannins; a pretty simple light-weight Zinfandel.
Rosenblum Cellars Napa Valley RustRidgeVnyd (14.2%) Zinfandel '97: Med.dark color; pleasant simple raspberry/Zinfandel/juicy slight dusty/earthy nose; tart ripe spicy attractive/ juicy/raspberry/spicy flavor; med.short pleasant raspberry/juicy earthy finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant up-front bit simple Zinfandel.
Fife Mendocino Zinfandel (14.2%) '97: Med.dark color; attractive bit earthy/tomatoey light fruit/blackberry light pencilly/oaked nose; soft bit flat tomatoey/earthy light fruity/raspberry/blackberry light pencilly/oaked flavor; med.short soft ripe light raspberry/blackberry bit earthy/tomatoey finish w/ light tannins; just a nice- drinking Zinfandel at a good price. $14.00.
Fife Old Vines Napa Valley Zinfandel Les Vieilles Vignes (14.9%) '97: med.dark color; spicy very peppery/dusty/old vines ripe/bright/raspberry light pencilly/toasted/oak nose; tart spicy very peppery dusty/old vines fairly bright/spicy/raspberry light pencilly flavor; long smooth tart very peppery/spicy raspberry/blackberry/bright light pencilly/oaked finish w/ modest tannins; needs yr or two; a well-made interest Zinfandel at a fair price. $16.00
Stephen Ross Sonoma Valley Zinfandel Monte Rosso Vnyd (14.4%) '97: Med.dark color; slight bretty/funky smokey/toasty/oaked light raspberry nose; tart lean some smokey/toasty/ Fr.oaked very light/fruity/raspberry flavor; light lean spicy some toasty/pungent/ oaked finish w/ light tannins; not a lot of fruit & a rather lean/angular structure; tastes like a Zinfandel made by a Pinot producer; interesting wine.
Ravenswood Monte Rosso Sonoma Valley Zinfandel (15.5%) '97: Very dark color; deep spicy/blackberry dusty pencilly/pungent/Fr.oak nose; tart spicy/blackberry some pencilly/Fr.oaked lightly pungent/smokey flavor; very long tart spicy/blackberry/raspberry popsickle light pencilly/oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs several more yrs; a bit on the tart and lean side and not as much bright raspberry character as previous yrs.
Rosenblum Cellars Dry Creek Valley Rockpile Road Vnyd (14.9%) Zinfandel '97: Med.color; attractive spicy/forward/raspberry/Zinberry fragrant nose; tart bright very spicy/raspberry/ Zinberry classic DCVZin flavor; med.long clean spicy tart bright raspberry/Zinberry finish w/ light tannins; a very nice classic DCV Zinfandel.
Rosenblum Cellars Redwood Valley Rhodes Vnyd Anette's Reserve (14.3%; 15% Carignane, 7% PS) '97: Med.color; very interesting smokey/meaty/bit toasty rather strong blackberry nose; soft very chocolatey very spicy/blackberry/tomatoey lush complex light toasty/ pungent flavor; very long very spicy/chocolaty/cherry cola/blackberry some meaty/ smokey finish w/ light tannins; good complexity; very well-made interesting Zinfandel.
Rosenblum Cellars Sonoma County Zinfandel St.Peters Church Vnyd (15.8%; 20% Carignane) '97: Med.light color; lots of bright Zinberry/cherry some meaty/dusty nose; tart lean narrow appley/ cherry/spicy/raspberry bit dusty/tannic flavor; long tart/lean spicy/cherry/raspberry bright finish w/ some tannins; needs a yr or two.
Rosenblum Cellars Sonoma County Zinfandel Cullinane Vnyd (14.6%) '97: Very dark color; beautiful complex/deep/blackberry/boysenberry/black cherry cola perfumey nose; soft very intense framboise/blackberry/boysenberry some menthol/eucalyptus/smokey complex flavor; very long intense framboise/boysenberry/black cherry cola some dusty finish w/ some tannins; seems like Kent's best Zinfandel of the '97 batch; better than the Samsel '97 by a long margin.
Ravenswood Belloni Russian River Valley Zinfandel (14.7%) '97: Very dark color; deep intense boysenberry/blackberry/meaty dusty/old vines very complex almost Syrah-like nose; rich intense blackberry/boysenberry balanced/lush complex/dusty/old vines slight pencilly/oaked bit tannic flavor; very long lush/balanced dusty/old vines ripe/ blackberry/boysenberry light oaked finish w/ some tannins; a terrific complex balanced lush Zinfandel.
Cline Russian River Valley Zinfandel Fulton Rd Vnyd (14%) '97: Black color; some menthol/ eucalyptus deep/dusty/old vines intense blackberry/boysenberry complex perfumey/ aromatic nose; tart some menthol/eucalyptus intense blackberry/boysenberry complex dusty/old vines perfumey flavor; very long/lingering intense boysenberry/blackberry complex dusty/old vines light toasty/oak finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a terrific Zinfandel & may be the best Cline Zinfandel ever.
Renwood AmadorCnty Zinfandel (14.5%) '91: Med.dark color; some bretty/horsecollar slight volatile light cherry/raspberry bit hot nose; very tart some bretty/horsecollar light cherry/raspberry bit too hot slightly dried-out flavor; med.long bit fumey/ volatile rather bretty light cherry/raspberry dusty finish w/ some tannins; not a lot of Amador character; drying out a bit. $Larry's mystery wine

And all the usual tripe from the bloody pulpit:
The '97 vintage: Still doesn't seem to be such a great vintage as it was originally touted to be. Many of the wines seem to be a bit lacking in structure and backbone. A vintage for drinking soon rather than putting away. The Ravenswoods seem to be very good for the '97's. And the Cline's are probably their best batch of Zins yet.
The Cline FultonRd is a terrific Zinfandel, probably the best Cline wine I've ever had. It did not have a lot of the character I associate with RRV Zinfandel, other than the intense blackberry; almost like a RRV Zinfandel made by a ContraCosta winemaker. Robert Parker really dumped on the Cline '97 Zins for their "searing acidity". Though they were on the tart side of the Zinfandel spectrum, they didn't seem to me to be overly acidic, and I prefer my Zins that way anyway. I got a nice e-mail from Matt Cline and he very strongly denied any acid adjustments on his '97 Zins, that that was simply what nature gave him. But "searing acidity"??? In a pig's eye! I continue to be impressed by the increase in quality & character of the Cline wines, particularly their Zins. Yet another wnry I have to keep my eye on.
MonteRossoVnyd: Still have yet to see any evidence that this is a great Zinfandel vnyd. The Ravenswoods seem easily the best from MonteRosso, but they just don't seem to be in the same league as their other SingleVnyd Zins. The MonteRosso seem to all have a lean and narrow character w/ a lot of monochromatic raspberry fruit to them; but just not the richness & lushness I like in great Zinfandel.