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.

Tasted some Zins last night:

1. Cuvaison Napa Valley Zin (14.6%) '77: Med.dark slight browning color; strong toasty/pungent/smokey/charred/oaked complex some dusty/cedary/Old Zin nose; tart some dried out pungent/charred/toasty dusty/cedary/cigar box complex flavor; med.long charred/pungent/toasty/smokey complex/cedary/old Zin finish w/ fair tannins; still a bit of fruit there but drying out somewhat; lots of charred/pungent character like an older Philip Togni Cab; pretty interesting wine and in good shape for 20+ yrs; great nose but a bit too dried out on the palate.
2. Sierra Vista Eldorado Zin Reeves Vnyd (14.3%) '96: Very dark color; slight volatile that clears to strong blackberry/Zin earthy/smokey some Am.oaked nose; soft ripe blackberry/Am.oaked some earthy/mushroomy fairly lush flavor; med.long soft blackberry/earthy some Am.oaked bit dusty/mushroomy finish w/ light tannins; lots a blackberry fruit for ElDorado; very well-made very nice drinking forward Zin.
3. Elyse Napa Valley Zin Howell Mtn Jake's Cuvee (12.9%) '91: Med.color; pleasant light blackberry bit dusty/old vine nose; tart rather thin/lean dried out light blackberry fruit flavor; med.short thin dried out light blackberry finish w/ some tannins; dried out & on the down side.
4. Elyse Napa Valley Zin Howell Mtn (12.9%) '93: Med.dark color; deep blackberry/ dusty/mtn Zin some smokey/oaked slight bretty nose; rich ripe blackberry/Zin rather dusty/earthy some pungent/oaked/toasty flavor; long bit tannic dusty/ HowellMtn/Zin fairly rich blackberry fruit slight bretty finish w/ some tannins; dtying out just a tad but pretty good example of HowellMtn Zin; probably should drink up.
5. Rosenblum Cellars Sonoma Cnty Zin (13.2%) '88: Med.color; lovely minty/menthol some dusty/old vines slight volatile bit cedary/blackberry nose; soft smooth round some minty/menthol/cedary complex light blackberry flavor; med. minty/ menthol some dusty/old vine cedary/complex light blackberry finish w/ light tannins; excellent example of mature Zin; ready to drink.
6. Rosenblum Cellars Contra Costa County Zin (13.9%) '94: Med.dark color; med. dusty/ plummy slight volatile/licorice slight musty/wet Army blanket/funky bit blackberry nose; soft round smooth ripe plummy/licorice light blackberry some earthy/dusty flavor; med. soft/smooth/round plummy light blackberry/licorice finish w/ light tannins; a bit of funkiness on the nose but very nice drinking; ready to drink.
7. Rosenblum Cellars Contra Costa County Zin Old Old Vines Continente Vnyd (15.4%) '96: Med.color; pencilly/cedary rather dusty/earthy slight smokey/pungent ripe plummy/blackberry some minty/menthol nose; soft ripe lush blackberry/plummy/ licorice some dusty/earthy light minty/menthol flavor; med.long ripe/round plummy/blackberry/licorice some pencilly/pungent/oak light minty/menthol finish w/ light tannins; not a long timer but really delicious drinking now; developed very nicely since its release.
8. Rosenblum Cellars Contra Costa County Zin Continente Vnyd Old Old Vines (14.4%) '95: Dark color; deep strong blackberry/licorice/plummy slight dusty bit simple nose; soft smooth plummy/blackberry/licorice ripe flavor; med.long smooth lush ripe/plummy/blackberry slight earthy/dusty finish w/ light tannins; a rather straightforward bit simple but lush drinkable ContraCostaZin.
9. Rosenblum Cellars Contra Costa County Zin Carla's Vnyd (13.6%) '97: Med.dark color; fragrant plummy/blackberry/blueberry spicy some dusty/old vines nose; ripe soft lush buttery/oak some apple/cinammon/spicy lush/plummy/blackberry/blue- berry flavor; med.long lush ripe plummy/blackberry/blueberry light buttery/oak rather spicy some dusty/earthy finish w/ light tannins; a classic lush Rosenblum Zin; great drinking now & for several yrs.
10. Michael Watts Dry Creek Vlly Zin Coffaro Vnyd (76% Zin, 12% PS, 10% Carignane, 2% CS; 75 cs; 14.5%) '97: Med.dark color; bright spicy/Zinberry/raspberry spicy slight oaked/pencilly classic DCV Zin nose; lush ripe raspberry/Zinberry very spicy light dusty/oaked flavor; long very spicy lush Zinberry/raspberry light oaked some dusty/old vines w/ light tannins; a classic spicy DCV Zin more in the style of Tria or Nalle than Coffaro; very well-made Zin.
11. Keegan Alexander Vlly Zin (14.2%) '96: Dark color; slight stinky/H2S nose clears to ripe blackberry/raspberry spicy/licorice some smokey/hot dog bit earthy/ peppery nose; fairly rich pungent/dusty/earthy some blackberry/jammy slight bretty/funky flavor; med.long dusty blackberry/jammy some bretty/funky some dusty/earthy finish w/ some tannins; interesting AlexVlly Zin some like the Sausal Zins. Overpriced at $26.00
12. Pezzi-King Dry Creek Vlly Zin (14.9%) '95: Dark color; lovely fragrant bright Zinberry/raspberry very spicy light oaked classic DCVZin nose; rich ripe very spicy cinammon/cloves bright vibrant Zinberry/raspberry dusty light oaked flavor; very long very spicy loads of bright Zinberry/raspberry/blackberry light oaked dusty finish w/ some tannins; beautiful classic very spicy DCV Zin.
13. Crane Canyon Sonoma Cnty Zin '94: Med.dark color; lovely ripe blackberry/lush chocolaty/licorice light oaked rather dusty/old vines nose; soft lush ripe/ blackberry/boysenberry spicy dusty/old vines licorice some oaked flavor; very long lush ripe blackberry/licorice/chocolaty soft light pungent/oaked finish w/ some tannins; tastes like RussianRiver Zin w/o the hardness; a ripe lush/plush great drinking Zin.
14. Limerick Lane Russian River Vlly Zin Collins Vnyd (14.2%) '94: Med.dark color; beautiful deep ripe blackberry/boysenberry/licorice very spicy/peppery some toasty/oak complex nose; rich lush mouthfilling very spicy/peppery blackberry/ boysenberry/licorice rather dusty/old vines flavor; very long mouthfilling lush ripe blackberry/boysenberry/licorice rather dusty/old vines light pungent/ oak finish w/ some tannins; still needs yr or two or 3; terrific RRV Zin.
15. Robert Biale Napa Valley Barbera Gaudi Carli Vnyd (13.4%; 50 cs) '96: Very dark color; very strong buttery/pencilly/oaked very spicy/Barbera/spicy Italian sausage rather dusty/old vines complex nose; very tart very spicy/Barbera cloves & cinammon buttery/pencilly/oaked flavor; very long tart lush very spicy/spicy sausage/Barbera very dusty/old vines pencilly/buttery/oaked complex finish w/ some tannins; a terrific very spicy Barbera w/ lots of Fr. oak; very well made.
    
    

1. Rosenblum Contra Costa Zins: Kent Rosenblum probably does a better job w/ Contra Costa Zin than anyone in Calif. They always have that classic Rosenblum lushness to them and more blackberry fruit and less of that clunky/funky/earthy ContraCosta character than anyone else's. Not particularly structured or tannic for aging; they seem to be relatively early maturing Zins. Very tasty wines from an area that's getting more and more attention.

2. Calif Barbera: One of the real under recognized grapes in Calif. Scott Harvey's Renwood Barberas were always my favorite ones. This Biale version is of equal stature. THIS is how they'd make Barbera in the Piedmonte if they could!!
The Pezzi-King and Limerick Lane Zins were both terrific Zins, approaching maturity. Too bad both those wineries '96 efforts were so weak.