We tasted last night (10/15/08) Some Zins From The Archives:
1. ElyseWnry JacobFranklin NapaVlly Charbono (ToffanelliVnyd, 13.2%; 17 brls) 2006: Dark
color; light toasty/oak rather licorice/pungent/earthy somewhat spicy/loamy/foresty nose;
soft/fat/lush rather earthy/loamy/licorice light toasty/oak somewhat rough/tannic flavor;
med.long earthy/licorice light toasty/oak finish w/ rough tannins; a rather earthy/rustic/
rough wine but a bit on the soft/fat side. $35.00
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2. ElyseWnry JacobFranklin NapaVlly PetiteSirah HayneVnyd (14.8%; 9 brls) 2006: Very dark/
black color; deep peppery/blackberry/PS loads of fruit slight licorice/pungent some toasty/
oak nose; soft rather tannic lush/blackberry/PS/licorice/peppery big fruit light oak
flavor; very long lush/ripe blackberry/boysenberry/PS bit peppery/pungent finish w/ fair
tannins; a soft/lush/ripe PS w/ loads of fruit but not quite the structure of previous
ones. $65.00
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3. Quivira DryCreekVlly Zin (13.5%) 1985: Med.color w/ little bricking; cedary/pencilly/
old Zin bit Windex some spicy/vanilla/oak rather complex nose; soft/smooth light cedary/
pencilly somewhat dried out/astringent/old Zin flavor; short astringent/dried out light
pencilly/cigar box finish; interesting nose but not deliver much on the palate. $8.15
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4. StorybookMtnVnyd SonomaCnty Zin (13.9%) 1980: Med.color w/ slight bricking; some
blackberry/licorice/Zin rather cedary/vanilla/oak some lush/blackberry/fruit rather
complex nose; soft/smooth/balanced vanilla/pencilly/oak light blackberry/Zin/minty slight
dried out/astringent flavor; long/smooth some lush/blackberry/Zin slightly dried out/
astringent finish; drying out slightly but smooth/polished on the palate w/ some blackberry
fruit remaining. $7.75
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5. BuehlerVnyd NapaVlly Zin (13%) 1981: Light color w/ noticible bricking; some charred/toasty/
pungent/oak light spicy/minty some complex nose; light/thin/washed out light spicy/minty
light charred/oak smooth flavor; short smmoth light/washed out slight minty/oak finish w/
no tannins; a delicate old lady that doesn't have much to give; not dried out but just sort of
an Oakland wine.."there's no there there". $7.60
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6. RosenblumCllrs MtVeeder Zin BrandlinRanch (14.1%; 85 yr old vines) 1991: Med.color w/ slight
bricking; deep blackberry/Zin/spicy/raspberry light licorice/tarry some perfumed/complex nose;
soft/smooth/classic Rosenblum lush strong blackberry/spicy/Zin some vanilla/oak slight
astringent flavor; long lush/blackberry/Zin/spicy/herbal some vanilla/oak finish w/ light
tannins; classic Rosenblum lushness and still very much alive. $12.50
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7. AmadorFoothillWnry ShenandoahVlly/Calif Zin FerreroVnyd (14.8%; Hrvstd: 9/13/90;
1039 cs; TA: 0.58 gm/100ml; pH: 3.60) 1990: Med.dark color w/ slight browning; bit tarry/
pungent/swampy/wet wood/oak/charred little fruit nose; rather tannic/astringent/dried out light
tarry/pungent/charred/oak no fruit flavor; med.long tannic/astringent/dried out some charred/
oak/pungent finish; no fruit & lots of charred/burnt oak; pretty far gone but not vile. $10.00
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8. ShenandoahVnyds Calif AmadorCnty Zin (14.7%; SpecRes; ChesterEschenVnyd/Fiddletown) 1981: Med.
color w/ some browning; mousey/wet wool/wet dog fur/army blanket bit oaked nose; quite hard/
tannic/dried out some wet wool/wet dog fur/funky flavor; med. hard/tannic/astringent/dried out
slight funky/wet dog fur finish; pretty much dead & gone. $7.50
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9. Easton Zin AmadorCnty LinsteadtVnyd (14.7%; 387 cs; U/U) 1991: Med.color w/ slight bricking; quite
spicy/briary/dill very perfumed/fragrant some briary/blackberry/Amador Zin complex nose; slight
tannic/astringent/dried out very spicy/briary/dill light blackberry quite spicy/perfumed flavor;
very long bit astringent very spicy/briary/perfumed finish; starting to dry out & crack up a bit,
but lovely aromatics in the wine and still speaks of Amador Zin. $14.00
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10. Montevina AmadorCnty Zin SpecSlctn (EB; 15%) 1979: Med.color w/ little bricking; intense tarry/
pungent/charred/oak rather briary/blackberry/Amador Zin very cedary/smokey complex nose; soft/
smooth rather charred/smokey/pungent/oak slight tarry/burnt some briary/blackberry/Amador Zin
slight astringent flavor; very long charred/burnt/tarry/oak some briary/blackberry slight
astringent/dried out finish; pretty strong charred/forest fire character but still briary Amador
Zin fruit; starting to dry out and crack up. $8.00
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11. SutterHome AmadorCnty Reserve Zin (15.0%; DeaverVnyd; Harvest: Oct '83; SaH: 25%;
RS: 0.1%; Bttld: Aug'85) 1983: Med.color w/ some browning; some toasty/charred/smokey bit briary/
AmadorZin/spicy/blackberry rather perfumed/complex pencilly/old Zin nose; soft rather cedary/
pencilly/oak fairly lush/briary/AmadorZin/blackberry/spicy quite ripe complex flavor; long slight
astringent/dried out somewhat lush/ripe rather briary/AmadorZin/spicy/blackberry complex cedary/
old Zin finish; starting to dry out but some wonderful old Zin character therein. $4.19
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8. Franus NapaVlly Zin LatePick (16.6%; SaH: 27.2 Brix; RS: 1.1%) 1991: Dark color w/ slight bricking;
lovely blackberry/Zin/very spicy some black pepper rather pencilly/cedary bit alcoholic complex
nose; rather sweet strong blackberry/Zin/boysenberry/DrPepper very spicy/black pepper light
pencilly/cedary/old Zin complex flavor; very long rather sweet spicy/peppery/blackberry/Zin some
cedary/pencilly finish w/ little tannins. In wonderfully good shape w/ plenty of blackberry fruit
left; tastes much sweeter than 1%. $16.00
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9. Montevina LateHrvst AmadorCnty Zin (EB; RS: 3.4%; SaH: 30%; 16%) 1978: Very dark color w/ very little
bricking; strong wet wool/wet dog fur/damp Army blanket/funky nose that clears some to charred/
smokey/oak some briary/blackberry/AmadorZin slightly raisened nose; rather sweet slight raisened/late
harvesty very strong briary/blackberry/AmadorZin some hot/alcoholic bit charred/burnt/oak complex
flavor; long bit alcoholic slight raisened/late harvesty very briary/AmadorZin/blackberry/spicy finish
w/ light tannins; in amazingly good shape and no signs of drying out; nose a bit funky and
weird, but great flavor. $10.99
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10. ShenandoahVnyds Calif Fiddletown Zin LateHrvst (SaH: 34%; RS: 9%; 14.9%) 1983: Med.color w/ little
bricking; very strong briary/blackberry/AmadorZin/spicy slight alcoholic/late harvesty classic Amador
briary somewhat complex nose; quite sweet big/brawny/AmadorZin/briary/blackberry some dusty/old
vines slight late harvesty/alcoholic ripe/briary flavor; very long very ripe/briary/blackberry/juicy
slight alcoholic/late harvesty finish w/ little tannins; still in great shape and a classic Amador
LateHrvst. $8.90
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11. ShenandoahVnyds AmadorCnty Zin LateHrvst (15.4%; 70 yr old LubenkoVnyd/Fiddletown;
SaH: 46%; RS: 16%) 1981: Dark color w/ some bricking; rather strong dusty/old vines classic Amador/
briary/blackberry slight cedary/pencilly slightly alcoholic very complex nose; soft very sweet
very intense blackberry/boysenberry/Amador/briary/DrPepper/cream soda big Zin fruit slight cedary
flavor; very long very sweet complex/cream soda/DrPepper intense blackberry/Amador/briary/spicy
rather complex slight cedary/pencilly w/ little tannins; in wonderful shape w/ no signs of falling
apart. $8.00
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And the usual BloodyPulpit nonsense:
1. JacobFranklin: Named after Ray & Nancy Coursen's son; this wine is consistently one of
the best PS's made in Calif. Generally they have huge fruit and great structure, w/o
the oafish/clunky character Calif PS can often show. The Charbono is Ray's first foray
into that varietal.
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2. ShenandoahVnyds: I've followed Lee&Shirley Sobon's wines from the very start. In the late '70's,
they were some of the best Amador wines being produced. In the mid-'80's, the wines seemed to
sort of lose their soul and I've not had many since then that have seemed very inspired. At
one time, Lee was making some pretty outstanding dessert wines, including ports and sherries;
but, again, I've not tried any of late.
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3. Amador Zin: I've followed Amador Zins from the very start (and before). CharlieMyers, SacState
English professor, was the original home-winemaker of Deaver Zins back in the early '60's. When
DarrellCorti tasted one, he recommended to BobTrinchero that he might try using those Deaver
grapes. Trinchero bought a ton in '68 and the rest, as they say, is history...sort of. My first
Amador Zin was the SutterHome '70. It was stunning..and only 13% alcohol...or thereabouts. It
kindled my love for Amador, one of the really beautiful/bucholic (Kansas boys know bucholic) parts
of Calif. I had the chance to try that original '68 SutterHome a handful of times and it easily
went out 20 yrs in age. Meanwhile, Charlie went commercial and started making AmadorZins from Deaver
at his HarborWnry, right smack dab behind Wingo&Sons Upholstery there on WestSacramentoBlvd. No
tour buses showing up there. His Deaver Zins were always wonderful until the '78, when they got
very ripe and he had a stuck fermentation and it was still quite sweet. He sold it as "Country
Zin" at $4/btl, and kissed off Deaver Zin grapes until just very recently. Then along came Cary
Gott in '73 and started MontevinaWnry, where he made some of Amador's greatest wines ever made
for the next 8 yrs. Then in the mid-'80's, ScottHarvey came along and was winemaker for Nancy
Santino's label. The Renwood label was spawned and again some of Amador's greatest wines were
being made. And one should not overlook the great Amador Zins made in the mid '70's from Eschen
and Esola grapes by FrankMahoney/CarnerosCreek and PaulDraper/Ridge. MontereyPeninsula also,
from John Fererro's grapes.
Alas, those times of an unending flow out of Amador of great Zins has come and gone. So sad.
Amador could be consistently making those great Zins of yore, but just doesn't. You occasionally
see those flashes of greatness from BillEaston or Ben&KatieZeitman. Occasionallt Karly or Sobon.
And Noceto. And Youngs. But they could be doing so much better in the ShenandoahVlly. There
are some exceptional grapes being grown there but it seems to becomming a vinous backwater, with
only an occasional flash in the pan. Easily the best Amador Zin I've had in 10 yrs or so was the
recent ScottHarvey Vnyd1863 (GrandPere) Zin '05, a dead ringer for those early SutterHome Zins
(and that's to be considered a compliment).
So sad I say.
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4. SutterHome: The SutterHome Reserve Zins from the late '70's were, by far, the best Zins they were
making then. The regular Zin had already fallen off the cliff, vis a vis those from the early
'70's. This '83 was the last SutterHome Zin I ever done bought. I recall it being rather overripe
and raisened and pruney. It certainly showed no signs of that at 25 yrs of age. It held up far
better than I'd expected.
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5. I was very/very surprised by the four LateHrvst wines at the end. All too often, as the very ripe
Zins age, they lose their fruit and become very raisened/pruney/alcoholic in character. None
of these wines showed much of that at all.
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6. This was a fun tasting. From time to time, I like to go back into the furtherest reaches of my
archives and start pulling out Zins to try. Oftentimes, they, like their archivist, have lost it.
But, then, sometimes you are totally surprised and find one that's in wonderful condition.
By and large, this batch was in pretty good condition and none of them totally shot.
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7. Back in the early '80's, I did an article for Vintage magazine (Hank Rubin was my Editor then)
on Zinfandels of the Eschen & Esola vnyds. I arranged a visit/interview w/ Lena (d'Agostini) and
Ernie Esola there, three houses down from Plymouth's main intersection. They were so impressed
that an important wine writer wanted to talk to them that they insisted I stay for lunch and
plyed me w/ some of Ernie's ho-made wine (it was pretty dreadful...oxidized & volatile). I had
mentioned that my car ('68 DodgeDart) was making some strange noises. So after lunch, Ernie
insisted that I drive it around back of the house so he could jack it up and look underneath.
He diagnosed it easily as badly worn U-Joints and would have replaced them right there on the
spot if'n I'd have let him. A really great/salt-of-the-earth couple, like I know from Kansas.
Alas, "Ornery Ernie" died some 15 yrs ago in a welding tank explosion at his home, but Lena
still lives there and is doing well I'm told.
I really do need to revisit the ShenandoahVlly for a few days, my old vinous stomping grounds.
Tom