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. Peterson Dry Creek Valley Bradford Mtn Vineyard Sonoma County Zin (14.5%; 450 cs; Zero Manipulation) 1999: Med.light color; bright spicy/DC ValleyZin bit dusty/old vines bit more interesting nose; tart/bright Zinberry light spicy bit simple flavor; med. bright Zinberry tart bit light finish w/ little tannins; a pleasant/simple DC Valley Zin but just that. Not worth $25.00 
2. Peterson DryCreek Valley Zin Tradizionale (13.8%; 500 cs) 1999: Med.light color; bit deeper more blackberry/Zin slight funky oaked nose; softer rather washed out some blackberry/ Zin slight funky flavor; med.short washed out weak blackberry finish w/ little tannins; rather light washed-out Zin. Overpriced at $25.00 
3. Ramsay Napa Valley Zin (13%) 1992: Med.dark color; light tobaccoy/cedary/cigar box light raspberry bit tired/oldZin nose; tart bit licorice/raspberry cigar box/cedary some grapefruity tannic bit oaked rather dried-out flavor; med.short dried-out/tannic some oaked/licorice finish; rather tired & dried out.
4. Ridge Vineyards Calif Zin Llewelyn (77% Zin, 23% Carignane; 15.2%; 42 brls) 2000: Med.dark color; very buttery/butterd popcorn/diacetyl light spicy/raspberry nose; soft/light bright raspberry/Zin bit dusty rather buttered popcorn flavor; med. buttered popcorn/ buttery light raspberry/Zin finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant bright raspberry Zin but underwhelming; may put on weight with age.
5. Cedarville Vineyards SierraFoothills ElDorado Zin (15.7%) 2000: Med.color; strong bright/ raspberry/blackberry/peppery rather spicy light toasty/oak bit earthy nose; fairly rich very spicy cherry/raspberry/cherry cola some vanilla/oak/toasty bit hot flavor; med.long raspberry/cherry/cola/Zin light toasty/oak/vanilla finish w/ some tannins; little of the earthy/ElDorado character; a bright/spicy/peppery Zin more like DryCreek Zin than ElDorado; very attractive great drinking Zin.
6. Turley Wine Cellars Calif Zin Juvenile (15.2%) 2000: Med.dark color; deep blackberry some   boysenberry slight licorice nose; big boysenberry/blackberry/Zin soft/fat light pungent/ licorice bit hot attractive flavor; med.long soft blackberry/boysenberry/licorice finish w/ light tannins; a fat/soft very drinkable Zin at a fair price. $24.25
7. Turley Wine Cellars Calif Zin Old Vines (Napa/Lodi/Paso Robles/Oakley; 15.0%) 2000: Med. dark color; deep/ripe boysenberry/blackberry bit eaerthy/dusty slight toasty/Fr.oak loads of fruit nose; rich/lovely very strong blackberry/boysenberry slight earthy/pungent flavor; very long/lush blackberry/boysenberry/spicy light/toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins;  shows some Lodi earthiness; a lovely/lush/ripe Zin for a good price. $29.25
8. Turley Wine Cellars Contra Costa County Zin Duarte (16.0%; 100+ yr old own-rooted vines) 2000: Med.dark color; classic ContraCosta/plummy/black cherry slight VA/EA nose; strong/ rich/plummy/black cherry/cola soft slight hot/fumey flavor; long soft/fat plummy/black cherry/blackberry/Zin bit dusty/old vines finish w/ light tannins; lots of ContraCosta character; fair price at $34.25.
9. Turley Wine Cellars Napa Valley Charbono Tofanelli Vineyard (14.2%): Very dark/black color; deep dusty/old vines chocolaty/licorice quite earthy/almost Pinotage-like or Rhone/earthy nose; hard/tannic rough/rustic rather earthy some licorice/black cherry bikt toasty/oak flavor; long very hard/tannic rough/rustic black cherry/chocolaty dusty finish w/ ample tannins; needs age; rather classic Charbono/earthy/rough character; bit like Pinotage; not a lot of fruit; fair price at $29.25.
10. Turley Wine Cellars Dry Creek Valley Zin Grist Vineyard (15.5%) 2000: Dark color; lovely/beautiful very spicy/classic DC Valley/Zinberry/raspberry slight volatile/EA nose; tart very bright/ raspberry/Zinberry very spicy/juicy flavor; long tart very spicy/bright/Zinberry/raspberry classic DCV Zin finish w/ some tannins; a bright/vibrant/zippy DCV Zin.
11. Turley Wine Cellars Napa Valley Zin Turley Estate (15.2%) 2000: Dark color; strong blackberry/ spicy/Zin bit blackberry big/lush/juicy bit simple nose; some spicy/blackberry/juicy slight greenish/herbal flavor; med.long spicy/blackberry/raspberry juicy finish w/ some tannins; attractive/drinkable Zin but just that. $40.25
12. Turley Wine Cellars Atlas Peak Zin Mead Ranch (15.7%) 2000: Med.dark color; intense blackberry/ boysenberry dusty/old vines rather smokey/burnt forest/toasty/oak complex nose; tart very spicy dusty intense blackberry/boysenberry dusty/earthy complex pungent flavor;  very long intense blackberry/boysenberry some pungent/smokey bit earthy/dusty finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; some like the Ridge HowellMtn Zins; my favorite of the Zins.
13. Turley Wine Cellars Napa Valley PS Rattlesnake Acres (14.2%) 2000: Very dark/black color; intense blackberry/licorice/peppery/Dr.Pepper lots of fruit light pungent oak nose; hard/tannic ripe/blackberry/licorice/peppery/spicy bit pungent flavor; med.long hard/tannic rather blackberry/peppery finish w/ ample tannins; loads of fruit for PS; needs 3-6 yrs; one of the best recent PSs I've had.
14. Turley Wine Cellars Napa Valley PS Turley Estate (13.3%) 2000: Black color; very strong toasty/ Fr.oak/charred more high-toned/blackberry/spicy nose; leaner/harder blackberry/Syrah/ peppery pungent/toasty/Fr.oak pretty tannic flavor; long hard/tannic/lean Syrha-like/ blackberry/spicy some toasty/Fr.oak finish w/ ample tannins; a more lean & hard style of PS, almost Syrah-like in character; found this more interesting than the Rattlesnake, though not as big & lushly fruited; good value at $34.25
15. Joseph Swan Vineyards Frati Ranch Russian River Valley Zin (14.1%) 1996: Med.dark color; strong Am.oaked peppery/blackberry/black pepper/boysenberry very dusty/old vines/earthy complex nose; bit hot/fumey dusty/old-vines some blackberry/peppery bit hard/dried-out/old Zin flavor; med.long hard/tannic some dried-out Am.oak light blackberry/licorice/peppery finish; seems to be moving right along and tastes older than I expected. Steve's mystery wine.
16. Carneros Creek Winery Esola Vineyard Amador County Zin (14.5%) 1977: Med.color w/ little bricking; very strong chocolaty very Italian spices/dried oregano&basil jammy slight blackberry/ briary tobaccoy/toasty complex slight alcoholic nose; fairly strong ripe/briary/oldZin rather tobaccoy/cigar box/oaked bit alcoholic complex slight dried out Italian herbs flavor; med. tobaccoy/cigar box Italian spices some jammy/oldZin/briary finish w/ little tannins; beautiful complex old Zin nose w/ lots of cedary/cigar box character; getting a little long of tooth but still a nice Zin. Blair's mystery wine.
17. Matanzas Creek Winery Sonoma Valley Merlot (13%) 1992: Dark color; very strong herbal/rosemary/ dried herbs some charred/toasty fairly complex nose; tart rather herbal/dried rosemary/ spicy some toasty/pungent/Fr.oak flavor; long rather herbal/dried herbs/spicy light toasty/ Fr.oak/charred finish w/ some tannins; good complexity and holding well, but ready to drink or beyond. Howard&Rhoda's mystery wine.

1. CarnerosCreekZins: I've long gone thru all my CarnerosCreek Amador Zins. Blair Swartz still had this last one in his cellar. Back in the '74-'78 period, FrankMahoney made some terrific Amador County Zins. He and Ridge were probably most responsible for generating my excitement for AmadorCounty. They both made Zin from the John&Ernie Esola vnyd and the Chet Eschen  Vineyard in Fiddletown. With the '78 vintage, Frank finally gave up on having to deal with overripe grapes, stuck fermentations, and high alcohol wines which probably offended his Pinot Noir-sensibilities. He's taken a lot of grief over the yrs from me for that decision. Fortunately, in the '99 vintage, Frank has again made an Amador Zin from the Esola  Vineyard. I posted on it almost a month ago. And a might-fine Amador Zin it is.  Definitely worth seeking out. Under the MahoneyEstate label. Price unknown.
2. Turley 2000's: Many of the 2000 Zins we've had are reflective of a difficult vintage. They seem to have plenty of attractive Zin fruit but they lack a lot of structure and tannins. This Ridge Llewelyn is a very good example of that. I was impressed by the Turley 2000's. They mostly show a lack of structure & tannins, but are loaded w/ a lot of very juicy/ attractive fruit and certainly don't come across a light and washed-out (NEVER had a Turley I'd use that term with). They seem Zins best for early drinking. But EhrenJordan has done a very good job with his 2000's. It'll be interesting to taste the Fall release  "big" Zins and see if they have the balance these first ones do.
3. Turley Wines: I've been following the Turley Zins from the very start. They've always been particular favorites of mine; probably the best of that style. Over the yrs, the oak seems to have been toned down quite a lot from the earlier yrs. And the wines show their vnyd origins more, I believe, more teroir. Sometimes the high alcohols show thru, but I find, by and large, they carry the alcohol well. But it's probably their PetiteSirahs I'm most taken by. They seem to pack in more fruit to them than any other PS producers, yet having the structure for aging. Terrific PS, IMHO.