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.

 
1. Nalle Sonoma County Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel (13.5%; "4 Out of 5 Fruit Flies Surveyed Prefer Nalle  Zinfandel"); 1998: Med.color; bright spicy/Zinberry/raspberry light pencilly/oak nose; tart  bright clean lush spicy/Zinberry/raspberry light pencilly/oak quite zippy flavor; med.  long slight bitter tart/bright/vibrant spicy/raspberry/Zinberry lush/fruity finish w/  light tannins; a classic Nalle Zinfandel in a light/Pinot-like style.
2. Nalle Sonoma County Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel (13.5%; "Zintensive Care"); 1997: Med.dark color;  much deeper blackberry/Zinberry more pungent/toasty/oak bit dusty/old vines very  fragrant nose; soft lush very spicy/blackberry/Zinberry/black cherry soda light  toasty/oak flavor; soft/lush very long very spicy/blackberry/black cherry/Zinberry  dusty/old vines light pungent/oak finish w/ light tannins; beautiful balanced/elegant  lush Zinfandel; quintessential Nalle Zinfandel.
3. Nalle Sonoma County Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel (13.5%; "Zinfandel By A Nose"); 1996: Med.dark color; rather  purfumy/perfumed talc very complex light Zinberry light pencilly/Fr.oak nose w/ slight  brett; tart light licorice smooth/spicy light Zinberry light pencilly/oaked; med.long tart  smooth spicy/Zinberry/licorice/cherry soda elegant/complex light pencilly/oak finish  w/ light tannins; beautiful/complex/elegant/perfumed Zinfandel near its peak.
4. Nalle Sonoma County Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel (13.5%; "Sensous Red Zinfandel"); 1995: Med.color; lovely/  complex/perfumed/spicy bit more pungent/toasty/oak strong blackberry/Zinberry/spicy/  perfumed talc elegant/complex nose; softer more pungent some toasty/oak blackberry/  Zinberry smooth/elegant flavor; very long bit pungent/toasty/oak blackberry/Zinberry  smooth/complex/elegant finish w/ light tannins; a beautiful/complex/elegant/mature  classic Nalle Zinfandel.
5. Nalle Sonoma County Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel (13.5%; "Everything I Learned About Zinfandel I Learned In  Zindergarten"); 1994: Med.color; ; slight funky/bretty ratherr fragrant/perfumed very  spicy/complex/aromatic bit blackberry/Zinberry nose; soft bit funky/bretty very smooth/  polished/elegant/complex cherry/Zinberry/spicy flavor; med.long smooth/elegant/polished  light cherry/Zinberry bit bretty finish w/ light tannins; a bit funky but still a lovely/  elegant Zinfandel probably slightlt beyond its peak.
6. Nalle Sonoma County Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel (13.6%; "Zinners Repent-Let He Who Is Without Zinfandel Pull  The First Cork"); 1988: Med.dark color; rather pungent/toasty/oaked bit funky/tobaccoy  complex slightly tired/dried out/rose petal bit smokey/complex nose; soft/smooth bit  dried out/tobaccoy/candied complex slight smokey/oaked flavor; long/complex bit dried  out/tobaccoy some toasty/smokey/oaked finish w/ some drying tannins; still a smooth &  complex Zinfandel but not a lot of fruit and drying out a bit.
7. Ridge Calif Mazzoni Home Ranch (71% Zinfandel, 21% Carignane, 8% PS; 13.5%; 36 brls); 1998: Med.  dark color; rathe milky/Am.oaked spicy/blackberry Ridge/perfume slight bretty bit earthy/  dusty nose; soft/smooth milky/Am.oaked very buttery/buttered popcorn spicy/blackberry  flavor; long bit bretty dusty/old vine buttered popcorn blackberry rather milky/Am.oak  bit dusty finish w/ light tannins; nice drinking Zinfandel but just that.
8. Rosenblum Cellars Paso Robles Zinfandel Richard Sauret Vnyd (13.8%); 1993: Med.dark slight browning  color; strong blackberry/PR jammy very spicy loely/complex nose; soft very ripe/PR  jammy bit raisened blackberry flavor; med.long bit overripe/raisened strong blackberry/  PR jammy finish w/ light tannins; tasting a bit overripe now but lots of jammy/PR fruit;  still in great shape.
9. RosenblumCllrs Paso Robles Zinfandel Richard Sauret Vnyd (14.7%); 1997: Med.color; very slightly  corked/musty rather blackberry/boysenberry/jammy some oaked slight volatile nose; soft  big lush boysenberry/blackberry ripe some pungent/toasty/oak flavor; long soft lush  blackberry/boysenberry/jammy some pungent/toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; a really  tasty PR Zinfandel and seems to have put on some weight over the last year; great drinking  Zinfandel.
10. Richard Sauret Ho-Made Zinfandel (SauretVnyd 2'nd crop); 1997: Dark color; very ripe to  overripe blackberry/jammy/boysenberry/grapey slight volatile bit stemmy/herbal rather  interesting nose; soft underacid lush blackberry/boysenberry/jammy/grapey very bit  alcoholic slight herbal flavor; long very ripe/overripe boysenberry/blackberry finish  w/ light tannins; an interesting very grapey kind of Zinfandel.
11. Eberle Paso Robles Zinfandel Sauret Vnyd (15.5%) '97: Med.color; very spicy/cinammon/cloves  ripe blackberry/boysenberry/chocolaty very fragrant/perfumed nose; rich blackberry/  boysenbery/chocolaty very spicy bit cinammon/cloves/oaked flavor; very long chocolaty/  blackberry/boysenberry light spicy/oaked finish w/ some tannins; still needs a yr or  two; a lovely/spicy Zinfandel that carries the alcohol well.
12. Eberle Paso Robles Zinfandel Sauret Vnyd (16.5%) '96: Med.dark color; strong pungent/smokey/  oaked complex boysenberry/blackberry nose; rich very spicy blackberry/boysenberry some  toasty/pungent/oak flavor; very long complex pungent/toasty/oak very spicy/blackberry/  boysenberry finish w/ some tannins; loads of spicy fruit; carries the alcohol well and  no raisened/overripe charcter, for now.
13. Eberle Paso Robles Zinfandel Sauret Vnyd (14.6%) '95: Dark color; rather pungent bit reduced  smokey/toasty/oak slight bretty chocolaty/complex bit herbal nose; soft intense  chocolaty ripe/blackberry/boysenberry some pungent/toasty/oak flavor; very long pungent/  toasty/smokey/oak chocolaty/boysenberry slight bretty finish w/ some tannins; dropping  a bit of fruit but a very interesting/pungent Zinfandel that will improve maybe for another  year.
14. Eberle Paso Robles Zinfandel Sauret Vnyd (13.8%) '94: Med.dark color; slight musty/earthy/  funky/dishwater/pungent/gunpowder nose clears to pungent/smokey/oak complex bright  raspberry/blackberry nose; soft/rich/lush chocolaty/blackberry some pungent/toasty/  oaked lovely/complex flavor; very long/complex pungent/toasty/smokey/oaked blackberry/  spicy/chocolaty bit dried-out/tannic flavor; very interesting complex Zinfandel but probably  a bit on the downside.

1. Nalle Zins: I've followed Doug Nalle's Zins from the very start. They are.... simply  the best. They are the direct antithesis of Turley Zins. They don't win big Zinfandel tastings.  They don't get over-the-top reviews. They are like a fine piece of woodworking; you can  tell by one look at it that a master craftsman has created it. They are all about  elegance & polish & complexity. I oft describe them a the Red Burgs of the Zinfandel world.  When ever I want a nice drinking bottle of wine to go with my meal, just to enjoy,  it's a Nalle Zinfandel I most often grab for. Normally I'll open a btl for dinner, have half  of it, and recork it to finish up the next night. More times than I'd care to tell,  I've noticed at the end of the meal I've drunk the whole friggin' bottle!!!  That's exactly the kind of Zinfandel Doug intends to make (well.... probably NOT drink a  whole btl by yourself at one sitting!!); a wine that HE likes to drink, and, hopefully,  others like to drink just as much. Doug makes the Zins to be great drinking from the git-go and sees no need for  anyone to age them. Yet they do last quite well (if'n you can avoid drinking them up)  and even improve some with a few yrs of age. These '98-'94 were all beautiful drinking  and showing no signs of going over the hill. Only the '88 (a weak vintage) was showing  a bit of wear & tear for its age; yet it, too, was an absolute pleasure to drink.  Doug has been amazingly consistent with his winemaking over the yrs. They DO vary in  character from yr to yr, reflecting the vintage, yet that distinct polish of the Nalle  style always seems to come thru. In a weak Zinfandel vintage like '98, the Nalle winemaking  style seemed to shine, whereas the Turley winemaking style just didn't quite work for  that vintage. Doug was here to NM for a tasting/visit some 8-9 yrs ago. He stayed at my home and  absolutely charmed the sox of my daughter Rebecca. She now thinks Nalle Zinfandel is absolutely  the best wine in the world and I usually give her a btl or two for her BD in June. Because  I got the '98 Zinfandel late this year, she didn't get her usual BD fare this year. So I took  her one of the '98's when I went back to KC two weekends ago. She was mightly peeved  with me when she found out I cracked that sucker open at my 40'th high school reunion  there w/ some fellow wine lovers; thus salvaging a pretty grim weekend, winewise, there  in KansasCity!! 
2. Richard Sauret: I've followed Richard Sauret's Zins from the very start, back in the  late '70's when he had his own Belli-Sauret label. Well, actually, I don't remember  anything about those wines, but I've followed all those that Gary Eberle and Kent  Rosenblum have made from those grapes.  Richard Sauret is "just" a PasoRobles farmer. But boy does he know how to farm grapes  there. One of the nicest men you'd ever want to meet. When I toured his Zinfandel vnyds  with him several yrs ago; you could tell there was somebody farming these grapes that  cared about quality. The vnyds of old head-pruned vines were absolutely impeccably  maintained. As we walked thru the vnyd, he couldn't resist pulling suckers here and there  and breaking off canes that were out of place.  There are actually two Sauret vnyds. Both are located at a lower elevation on the  PasoRobles WestSide, a bit west of Caparone Wnry. The lower vnyd, owned by the Belli  family, but farmed by Richard are the grapes that go to Kent Rosenblum. About a mile  away, at a somewhat higher elevation, is the Zinfandel vnyd surrounding his home, which sits  atop this high hill w/ a great view in all directions. These are the grapes that go  to Gary Eberle for his SauretVnyd Zinfandel. He has also planted some Barbera there for Gary  so ther'll be a SauretVnyd Barbera about the '00 vintage.  After the Zinfandel has been harvested for Gary & Kent, Richard then goes the the two vnyds  and harvests all the second crop grapes for his wine. It's not actually a Ho-Made wine,  since Richard does not make it. He takes it over to Neild Udson at CastoroCllrs, where  it is fermented & bttld for Richard for his own consumption. Not commercially available.  Zins made from second crop can sometimes have a weird character to them. This one had  a lot of ripeness to it but a very strong grapiness that suggests it was bttld early  and so no oak aging. But Ho-Made, it was not like that at all. 
3. Eberle Zins: I've followed Gary Eberle's Zins from the very start, back in his days at  EstrellaRiver Vnyds. Those were very elegant/polished rather oaked Zins that I liked  a lot and they were cheap. Gary resumed making Zinfandel, now under his Eberle label, now from  Richard Sauret's grapes with the dreadful (mostly up North, though) '89 vintage. The  wine was, in its time, one of the best Paso Zins I'd ever had. He has continued a  pretty much unbroken string of primo Zins since that '89 vintage; some of my absolute  favorites of the Paso Zins. They tend to be unlike most Paso Zins in that they have  more oak & complexity and less of that ripe/overripe jammy character. Though the  alcohol levels are often high, they seem to carry the alcohol very well. But when they  start to go, they seem to go pretty fast.