Need help choosing Amador zins

[Jenise]

I've been charged with rounding up the wines for next month's neighborhood tasting topic: Amador Zins. There's very little locally available, and I'll have to order everything from California. The first place I looked was K & L Wines. Here's a link to their list of Amador product: http://www.klwines.com/find/search.asp?w=amador&ob=an&wr=e

I'm a bit disappointed that there aren't more possibilities, and I'm leery of buying vintages older than 2004 but that's a because I lack of specific knowledge about the wines listed here. Of what I see here, the Joel Gott Dillian and the Sobon Fiddletown look like sure things to me. I tend to nix the Rosenblum because, though I respect Rosenblum as a zin producer I think I'd rather give the spotlight to the Amador-only producers. Are there any on this list that those of you with strong ties to the area would reccomend?

Also, if anyone has a reccommendation for an Amador-centric retailer, I'd appreciate the contact. One who might, just for instance, have Karly Warrior Fire (or is it Fires), a wine I'd love to include in this tasting.

Jenise -

For more Amador zin, you might try calling Corti Brothers. Their site is http://www.cortibros.biz/

Their website does not list individual wines, but they usually have at least a few Amador zins and they often bottlings you won't find many other places.

I think the Scott Harvey would be worth putting in there.

If you can find any, the OGP Zin from Vino Noceto is made from Grandpere Vineyard fruit and is a pretty nice wine.

Mike

Highly recommend Easton Wines Zinfandel, Eschen-Rinaldi Vineyard, Fiddletown. The '01 is available for around $28 from at least two CA retailers on wine-searcher.

This is one of our all time favorite Zins.

[Jenise]

Mike, thanks for that tip. Actually, Corti Brothers was the first place I looked, before K &L--was surprised in a WTF kind of way to find more Aussie and Greek wines listed than Amador!

[James Roscoe]

Jenise, those are great prices on the Sobon wines. We pay $4-5 more here in DC. The Rocky Top may show a little less heat. It depends on the vintage. They are both very good. The Shenadoah Zin is Sobon's entry level label. At $7.99, it's a steal. I do tend to like the Sobon stuff and have never had a bad wine out of their label. All things being equal, I might go with the "04 Rocky Top. I don't think the '05 Fiddletown hasa made its way east yet, so I really can't judge it. The '04 Rocky Top was better than the '04 Fiddletown IMHO. Good luck and enjoy!

[Jenise]

James, I guess I'm showing a bit of bias there in that based on one tasting trip through Amador, in the instances where Fiddletown and other sub-regions were available for comparison, I generally found the Fiddletown to be spicier and more interesting. Otherwise, I'm not much of a zin drinker and will have to rely heavily on the rest of you!

Carl, thanks for the tip.

And Mike, thanks for the recco on the Scott Harvey. I had a feeling that was a "good name."

I was very impressed with a Runquist Petit Sirah but have not tried any of the zins from Runquist. I think I have had a Four Vines from Amador (different designation) and liked it with a few sips, bought a bottle, and then was disappointed once I tried it at home.

[Jenise]

Jenise -

For more Amador zin, you might try calling Corti Brothers. Their site is http://www.cortibros.biz/

Their website does not list individual wines, but they usually have at least a few Amador zins and they often bottlings you won't find many other places.

I think the Scott Harvey would be worth putting in there.

If you can find any, the OGP Zin from Vino Noceto is made from Grandpere Vineyard fruit and is a pretty nice wine.

Mike

New but related question: How was 04 in general, vintage-wise? I see a lot of 04s available (from K & L, the Harvey, the Gott Dillian and one of the Sobons are 04's), might be fun/rewarding to actually do this as a horizontal and limit our selections to that vintage.

Don't really know, Jenise. I haven't had enough of them to say.

FWIW, I had the '05 Sobon Old Vine Zin recently and it was great stuff for the money. I'd also expect any of the Easton zins to be good ones as well.


Mike

[Jenise]

Mike, since last post, I've learned that the 04 vintage was the earliest harvest on record, at least for one vineyard. Lotta hot wines; Runquist admits to having one of his reduced by 2%. That doesn't bode well, but I did find some exc reviews (on cellar tracker, not the critics) on the Joel Gott Dillian and Sobon Reserve from 04 (which I can get), and also on a number of the Runquists. Agreed about the Eastons, any Easton....

Ever hear of Santiano (Fiddletown)? Oh, and how about Amador Foothills Winery, various vineyards? I like the sound of their philosophy, for whatever that's worth, and I think Mark Willstater used to work there. If I choose one of these, I can buy all my wine from two sources, which is desirable (lower shipping costs).

Mike, since last post, I've learned that the 04 vintage was the earliest harvest on record, at least for one vineyard. Lotta hot wines; Runquist admits to having one of his reduced by 2%. That doesn't bode well, but I did find some exc reviews (on cellar tracker, not the critics) on the Joel Gott Dillian and Sobon Reserve from 04 (which I can get), and also on a number of the Runquists. Agreed about the Eastons, any Easton....

Ever hear of Santiano (Fiddletown)? Oh, and how about Amador Foothills Winery, various vineyards? I like the sound of their philosophy, for whatever that's worth, and I think Mark Willstater used to work there. If I choose one of these, I can buy all my wine from two sources, which is desirable (lower shipping costs).

For the "Santiano", should that be "Santino"? If so, that's the original name for what is now Renwood. They have kept both names and I believe they use the Santino designation for lower-end stuff. Mark Willstatter can probably give you more up-to-date info on these, if he sees this. You probably already know what I think of Renwood, so.....

Amador Foothill would be worth including, IMHO. I was there a couple of weeks ago and they were pouring some pretty nice wines. Their zins do tend towards the 15%+ range, but I still find them to be tasty. Look for the Esola Vineyard zin if you can get it.

I'll be very interested in hearing what everyone thinks of these wines.


Mike

[Jenise]

Mike,

The retailer who offered the "Santiano" spelled it that way and I didn't know any better. No wonder googling that spelling came up dry. If it's Renwood, then I'm not interested for the same reasons you said what you said.

The Amador Esola was precisely the wine I had my eye on, mostly because it was a buck more than several of the other vineyards they have which seemed to indicate that they thought a little more highly of it than the others. For the sixth wine, it might come down to that or the Easton--I have to confine my purchases to no more than two retailers because of the shipping costs, and a retailer who has the Sobon Reserve, the Karly Warrior Fires and the Joel Gott Dillian has the AFW Esola, too. All 2004's. Would be very convenient to buy the AFW.

Jenise

Jenise,
From your K&L list I would also add the Scott Harvey Zin. Scott is one of the foremost Amador County Zin specialists, and I'd bet that his "old vines" Zin is from the original Grandpere vineyard, which IIRC is still in his ex-wife's hands. I haven't had any of the wines from his new label, but his track record at Santino, Renwood and Folie a Deux is as good as it gets.

Mark Lipton

p.s. My other favorites are Karly Warrior Fires, Easton and Amador Foothills.

[Jenise]

Mark, bought it this morning, thanks. So Scott was married into the family that owned Grandpere? Was the divorce the reason that Renwood lost Grandpere?

Mark, bought it this morning, thanks. So Scott was married into the family that owned Grandpere? Was the divorce the reason that Renwood lost Grandpere?

That's a complicated story: people don't even agree over whether Scott was fired or quit Renwood. One thing that's certain is that Terri (Scott's ex-wife) sells her Grandpere grapes to Scott, not Renwood.

Mark Lipton

But I think they lost the right to call them Grandpere so they may just be called "old vines."

Mark, bought it this morning, thanks. So Scott was married into the family that owned Grandpere? Was the divorce the reason that Renwood lost Grandpere?

That's a complicated story: people don't even agree over whether Scott was fired or quit Renwood. One thing that's certain is that Terri (Scott's ex-wife) sells her Grandpere grapes to Scott, not Renwood.

Mark Lipton

She also sells to Vino Noceto (as mentioned above) for their OGP.


Mike

[Jenise]

Yes, I remember that from my visit there. They told me a bit about the backstory but the details have been obscured by time. Wish I could have gotten the VNs for this tasting, as I so admire what they do there, but neither of the two best prospects for obtaining wines carried their stuff.

At the risk of over-repetition:
Easton
Karly
Sobon Estate
TKC

And from neightboring Fairplay:
Cedarville
Mount Aukum

[Jenise]

Shaji, thanks. I'd forgotten about Cedarville, but I do know how good they are. And I've liked TKC's wines in the past, but they're nonexistent at retail. Mt. Aukum, though, that's a new one for me--for the sake of education (I probably can't find their wines) can you tell me a little more about them?

Jenise,
A little outside Fairplay, it sits at the end of a winding road, up a hill. Even being near the area, I have yet to see their wines here too often. We went there, because of my Rhone-fixation. But, we tried and bought their Sierra footthills Zin, because as we all know that for some unearthly reason, folks who like their Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre, also profess an affinity for Zin (which alongside Petit Syrah, should be California's state grape). It was on sale by the case and well worth the price. Very true to the region, it is a deceptively medium bodied wine with just the right amount of fruit to offset the tannin. It finished well and is a delicious wine. While it sips well on it's own, it needs food. I have approximately six bottles left. We have had it with food ranging from take-out from Denny's and recently chicken-makhani.
Besides their zins, i was impressed bu their other offerings as well- good crisp Rhone whites and a nice Syrah.

I agree with you on the Mt. Aukum wines, Shaji. They've been making some really tasty stuff up there.

Jenise - It's high time you got out here for a trip up to Fairplay!


Mike

Ever hear of Santiano (Fiddletown)? Oh, and how about Amador Foothills Winery, various vineyards? I like the sound of their philosophy, for whatever that's worth, and I think Mark Willstater used to work there. If I choose one of these, I can buy all my wine from two sources, which is desirable (lower shipping costs).

For the "Santiano", should that be "Santino"? If so, that's the original name for what is now Renwood. They have kept both names and I believe they use the Santino designation for lower-end stuff. Mark Willstatter can probably give you more up-to-date info on these, if he sees this. You probably already know what I think of Renwood, so.....

Amador Foothill would be worth including, IMHO. I was there a couple of weeks ago and they were pouring some pretty nice wines. Their zins do tend towards the 15%+ range, but I still find them to be tasty. Look for the Esola Vineyard zin if you can get it.

I'll be very interested in hearing what everyone thinks of these wines.


Mike

Sorry, I've been away from computers for a couple of days and so didn't notice my name. Santino was indeed Renwood's predecessor, where Sccott Harvey got started before Smerling's arrival. I don't know what the logic is behind where they still use the Santino name but my observation is the same as Mike's: that they apply it to low-end stuff. So I guess it amounts to a low-end second label at this point.

Jenise, I haven't tasted Amador Foothill's current releases but my guess is that as Amador Zin goes (I realize that is a significant qualification), theirs might suit your tastes more than most. Katie Quinn is the winemaker and her own taste in wine runs toward the Europhilic and so her style is to try avoid overblown, jammy wines - not always an easy task in Amador. Mostly, she succeeds, which is sometimes a problem in tasting room since many come to Amador *looking* for overblown and jammy. Alcohol levels have indeed gotten up there but that seems to come with the territory when you wait for ripe (from a flavor standpoint) Zin in that area.

Mark

[Jenise]

Mark, thanks. I pretty much figured out Katie's style from the website, trouble now is getting the wines. The one internet seller I'd found a good supply of their wines at, Winerz in So Cal, despite what their website shows is out of the Clockspring and the Esola won't be released until June. I bought her Sauv Blanc for the pre-tasting session, but sadly may not be able to use any AFW wines in this tasting at all.

So far I have the Karly Warrior Fires, Sobon ReZerve, Ruhnquist Z, Scott Harvey OV and Gott Dillian, and the sixth spot that was going to be the AFW is open. That'll probably end up going to Easton or Montevina Deaver, whichever I find first. The other two pretasting wines are Karly and Gott SB's.