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.

 

Zinfandel
Tasted a few new Zins last week:
Saghesio Old Vine Zinfandel Sonoma County '95: Some raspberry/Am.oaked slight dusty/ old vines bit horsecollar/bretty nose; some raspberry/menthol rather sour slight tanky flavor; med.short raspberry/dusty old vines Am.oaked bit tanky finish w/ light tannins; pleasant & interesting but still that old-style slight tanky Calif Zin character; overpriced at $18.
Seghesio Alexander Valley San Lorenzo Zinfandel (15.1%) '95: Some blackberry bit valve oil dusty some oaked/woody nose; soft fat blackberry/woody bit tanky flavor; med.long soft fat light blackberry some woody/tanky finish w/ light tannins; still that old style Calif Zin character; way overpriced at $20.
Zayante Santa CruzMountain Zinfandel (TW) '95: Dusty very peppery/spicy spicy sausage fragrant some blackberry nose; tart lean hard peppery/chalky/spicy light raspberry flavor; long tart spicy/peppery/dusty/meaty light raspberry/ blackberry light oaked finish w/ fair tannins; not much fruit but that classic SCMtn/dusty/chalky character; needs 3-6 yrs; very much like some of the old Ridge MonteBello Zins of old.
Burrell School Vineyards ShenandoahValley Vina Biagi Zinfandel (15.5%) '95: Strong jammy/ blackberry some raisened/LateHrvsty nose; off-dry hot/alcoholic jammy/black- berry late hrvsty buttery/oaked flavor; med.long bit thin rather hot/ alcoholic very ripe jammy/blackberry late hrvsty finish w/ light tannins; rather overripe Amador Zin, bit too hot & alcoholic.
Ridge California Mataro Pagani Ranch (75% Mataro, 25% Zin; 14.8%) '95: Intense plummy/dusty old vine/smokey/funky/pungent/complex old Italian-style nose; soft very ripe/plummy/ chocolaty/spicy/ dusty/Italianate bit funky flavor; very long soft plummy/dusty/earthy/funky/Italianate finish w/ light tannins; very interesting deep/dark Pagani Ranch wine.
Easton Shenandoah Valley California Barbera Cooper Ranch (13.5%) '95: Strange geraniums/floral sharp bit stemmy/dusty bit volatile/aromatic little fruit nose; very tart tannic astringent lean hard stemmy metallic strange flavor; long stemmy hard metallic astringent dusty finish; a really strange wine that has little of either Barbera or Amador character; seems from underripe grapes but doesn't have that green character; some of the "salato" character of Italian Barbera; give this some age & see where it goes.
Easton Shenandoah Valley California Zinfandel (13.5%) '95: Very spicy/dusty slight Amador/ briary blackberry/oaked/fragrant spicy nose; tart spicy lean briary hard/ astringent light blackberry flavor; tart lean hard light briary/Amador black- berry meaty finish; lean & hard & needs a few yrs age; would like to see a bit more ripeness.
Easton Fiddletown Eschen Vineyard Zinfandel (14.5%) '95: Fragrant charry/dusty/black cherry complex very spicy nose; hard/lean/tannic light cherry/spicy light oak flavor; long hard tannic/astringent lean light charry/black cherry very spicy finish w/ ample tannins; some of that bright cherry/Eschen character but that classic Eschen hardness; needs 3-8 yrs.
Stillman Brown Santa Clara Valley Lion Oaks Ranch Zinfandel (13.8%) '96: Very dark color; rich plummy/ripe intense blackberry/chocolaty/intense fruit dusty/ old vines slight volatile nose; soft rich very intense fruit/blackberry/ chocolaty/plummy very lush flavor; long very lush/blackberry very intense fruit very spicy some dusty finish; big ripe & lush for drinking over the short term; some like the BonnyDoon Cardinal Zin but not as soft & fat; well-made & a good drink.
Storrs Santa Clara County Lion Oaks Ranch Century Vines Zinfandel (15.5%) '95: Dark color; very ripe/jammy/blackberry bit alcoholic nose; spicy rather overripe/ late hrvsty strong blackberry/jammy light licorice bit hot some oaked flavor; med.long blackberry/jammy/chocolaty bit stemmy slight hot/alcoholic finish w/ light tannins; interesting but a bit on the overripe side.
Fife Old Vines Napa Valley Les Vielles Vignes Zinfandel (TW) '95: Spicy fragrant very raspberry attractive some oaked nose; tart bit lean bright spicy raspberry light oaked flavor; light fragrant raspberry oaked spicy finish w/ light tannins; little old vines character; nice drinking Zin but just that.
Merryvale Napa Valley Zinfandel (13.5%) '94: Black color; very strong pungent/dusty blackberry bit H2S/stinky some stemmy rather oaked nose; very hard/tannic/ astringent dusty/earthy blackberry flavor; very long very tannic/astringent pungent/bit stinky/sewer gas light blackberry finish w/ plentiful tannins; a Zin made in a heavy-duty Cab style; most really disliked this wine but I thought it had a lot of potential in 6-12 yrs; seems to have a lot of that low fruit/dusty Howell Mtn character.
Rabbit Ridge Sonoma County OVZ Reserve Zinfandel (14.9%) '95: Dark color; lovely fragrant pencilly/oaked slight volatile/funky spicy blackberry nose; lush raspberry/blackberry bit unclean/funky bit hot/alcoholic/volatile vanilla/ oaked flavor; long rich raspberry vanilla/pencilly/oaked bit hot finish w/ light tannins; a very attarctive/complex/interesting Zin but a few off elements for me; a very highly-regarded Zin but I was not blown away by it; not worth the $27.00.
Rabbit Ridge Sonoma County Grand Reserve Zinfandel (13.8%) '95: Very dark color; beautiful fragrant pencilly/oaked blackberry/dusty old vines/complex very spicy perfumy nose; soft complex minty/menthol pencilly/oaked spicy black- berry/raspberry dusty flavor; very long lingering pencilly/minty/menthol/ oaked very spicy blackberery/raspberry lots of new oak finish w/ light tannins; liked this quite a lot but wouldn't spend $28.00 for it.
Jacuzzi Family Vineyard Contra Costa County Reserve Zinfandel (14%) '94: Very dark color; intense plummy/blackberry intense minty/menthol/new Fr.oak bit dusty nose; soft ripe blackberry/plummy some CCCnty earthy/dusty strong monty/menthol Fr.oaked flavor; soft long dusty minty/menthol blackberry/plummy dusty/ earthy finish w/ some tannins; probably the most complex & interesting CCCnty Zin I've had but at a stupid price.


And speaking from his bloody CyberPulpit:
Clearly, the Seghesio folks are trying to upgrade the quality of their wines, in addition to their packaging. But they oughta get there afore they upgrade their prices. To me, Seghesio and Sausal (and Pedroncelli & Parducci) make rather old-style Calif Zins, a bit on the bretty side, a bit of that slightly redwood/tanky quality. They have their proponents, but I'm not one of them.
The Easton wines were a bit of a disappointment. Bill tries very hard to avoid that overripe/jammy quality character that Amador wines can (and often do) have and looks for a bit leaner/harder style in his wines. These seem a bit too far in that direction. But they may very well age into some very interesting wines. No reason that Amador wines HAVE to be ripe & lush.