Tried this last night w/ grilled radicchio de Trevesio salad & grilled steak:
1. SierraVista ElDorado Zin OldClone (EB; 13.9%) 2005: Dark color; some ElDorado/earthy/mushroomy rather blackberry/spicy/Zin quite cracked black pepper/perfumed complex nose; tart slight earthy/mushroomy very spicy/cracked black pepper some blackberry/Zin interesting/complex flavor; long very spicy/cracked black pepper bit tart/hard some blackberry/earthy/Zin bit tannic finish; loads of cracked black pepper, plenty of ElDorado terroir, and good blackberry fruit; a great value at $18.00 thru the SV *'s program.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. After a long day on the (fencing) strip, I was ready for calories and wine was just an afterthought. So I grabbed what was at hand and cracked that sucker open, with low expectations.
Since Michelle and Vince have left SV and John has returned to full-time winemaker, I've found the SV can sometimes be a bit hit or miss. The latest '06 Viognier was a "miss", at slightly over 14% alcohol, it was a lean/tart/eviscerated wine w/ only a modicum of that pear/Viognier character.
So I was not expecting much of this Zin w/ its anemic 13.9% alcohol. Whatta surprise this was. The consumate food Zin. It had a strong cracked black pepper character that I seldom find in Zin. Yet it had plenty of fruit and the structure to take it out 3-6 yrs. So if you're tired of the gobs of hedonistic fruit bomb Zins, with their mind-blowing alcohols (and I DO like those wines, too); this SierraVista Zin is exactly your cup of tea.
Tom