Open Mike: Seven Deadly Zins.

[James Roscoe]

I will probably taste another zin for "calibration" purposes. MAybe two will be in order. I am going to Philly this weekend to visit my parents (Where's Paulo?)

That sounds fair to me James, any late-harvest in your neck of the woods(gulp,hint).

WTN: 2004 Seven Deadly Zins Lodi California. Deep ruby/purple color, deep hue, simple fruit aroma on the getgo, which opened over time, becoming much more complex with a dusty, briary aroma, good fruit with pepper, dust and that wild taste that comes from old vines, medium mouth feel, long complex single note finish. Wonderful with homemade green pepper and mushroom pizza. as well as a big, briery, spicy, peppery nose, excellent texture, very good fruit, and a medium to full-bodied finish. 4*.

Further notes: we had planned to have a taste off of the 2002, 2003 and 2004 vintages. Life intruded -- FedEx decided it preferred to deliver the shipment to their office floor in Mahwah, where it got lost and is still unavailable. I shopped for substitutes at Wine Discount, and was able to find one bottle -- the clerks said the wine flew off the shelves -- for $14.00. [Having read so much about the wine and the marketing, I was surprised to see that it was a sort of non-descript label -- certainly several labels of other zins leapt off the shelf and were much more prominent.]

At home, life intruded further -- the kids showed up an hour early, and food prep was controlled chaos. David opened the SDZ and his first report was disappointment -- good zin fruit, but awfully simple. But, over the next half hour, the aroma and taste gained complexity. The pizza turned out beautifully, the salad was delicious, and the wine held its own for all four of us.

This seems to be a wine that apparently drinks a lot better than it tastes. A delightful surprise.

Regards, Bob

Thanks for your notes Bob....interesting!! Wink wink, did you find any jammyness with your bottle?

Nope. Just a dusty, complex zinfandel taste with that viney/briary character. Wasn't even hot.

WTN: `04 7 Deadly Zins, Lodi California.

Opened briefly on Thursday to see what is going on and then shared with the staff at my local fav. winestore who had shown some interest in bringing this wine in apparently. To compete with the Gnarly Head??

Colour. Quite a nice deep hue, rich medium intense centre with some purple tones on the rim.

Nose. Cherry, raspberry, smoke, meaty were my original comments on opening. Seems a tad ripe, here`s some smoke and pepper hints.
After 24 hrs, tasted blind with the crew! "Smells like a zin, raspberry jam, floral elements". Three out of four thought zinfandel. Good so far!!

Palate. Mouthfeel entry told me ripe, spice, black fruits, cherry and blackberry. Wine had been opend for an hour. Hint of cocoa and pretty smooth but think this is overripe. Some might say over the top but thats just my palate folks. Soft acidity to me and my partner thought "this could be picked late". Wow, a late harvest?!! To me a fun wine and great with BBQ Pork. This wine seems really more fruit forward than I expected though.

**** after 24 hrs and with the crew, most comments were fair to me......"raspberry, cocoa, too ripe, hint of bitterness". One taster thought there was a hint of heat and could not find any earthy/briary tones. I had to wonder if there was some P Sirah in here? Some agreement about that as we parted to other vinious affairs!

When looking at Bob R`s notes, it seems to me that my bottle was more advanced than the one Bob tasted. Any thoughts?

Thanks for the note, Bob. I've now read a couple dozen notes on this wine from four different vintages. There seems to a great deal of bottle variation -- I'm not sure how much of that is the result of the unusual packaging and people's reactions to the packaging.

I've drunk Marietta's various lots of Zinfandel ever since I started drinking wine seriously -- several were real favorites -- Lot 7, Lot 15, Lot 31. At $8 to $10, this remains quite a pleasant zin with its own character despite being a blend from many different California sources.

You might find it interesting to compare a Marietta Cellars -- Lot 40 is available now in our area -- with the Seven Deadly Zins. The latter is more complex, with more of the old vine dustiness, than the former, but at half the price, Marietta remains a favorite.

Thanks for suggesting this Open Mike to me; my family had a ball analyzing the wine.

Regards, Bob

Bill, I am surprised you did not think your bottle was jammy and overripe like mine. When I read your notes, I was on alert as I was not getting your thoughts. That is why I took mine down to the store for the experts to sample!! Thanks for the heads up on the other zin and glad your party enjoyed analysing!!

Well, its monday and still have some dregs left in the fridge. Sure has enough grip and some lovely blackberry amidst some tannins. Who says Vacu-vin does not work!!?