Tried these two from the archives this week:
5. Mayacamas CalifMtn Zin (15%; BaldinelliVnyd/ShenandoahVlly; Dry) 1973: Dark color; lovely/complex dusty very spicy/raspberry/blackberry/brambly light cedary/oak rather complex nose; tart ripe brambly/blackberry/AmadorZin very spicy light cedary/pencilly/cigar box beautiful/complex flavor; very long/lingering very spicy/blackberry/brambly/Zin light cedary/cigar box slight dusty/earthy fairly complex finish w/ very light tannins; just as young and fresh as if ir were only 5 yrs old; terrific mature Zin w/ plenty of fresh fruit.
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6. Mayacamas LateHrvst Zin (16%) 1974: Med.dark color w/ slight bricking; rather overripe/raisened/pruney bit alcoholic some cedary/pencilly/pungent/tarry/oak not particularly complex nose; off-dry slight herbal very ripe/boysenberry/Zin/grapey somewhat cedary/pungent/oak bit hot/alcoholic slight dusty/briary flavor; med.long very ripe/grapey/boysenberry/Zin somewhat cedary/tarry/oak/charred finish w/ little tannin; still lots of very ripe/grapey Zin fruit but not much complexity has developed over the yrs; just a bit on the overripe/dull side; a survivor for a LHZin
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and a mystery wine from JimFriar:
17. CharlesLeFranc Special Harvest of 1978 SanBenitoCnty Zin Royale (13.7%; RS: 6.1%; TA: 0.77%; 2500 cs; SaH: 28.6%) P&B by AlmadenVnyds/SanJose 1978: Very dark/black color w/ some bricking; very strong/grapey/overripe/raisened/pruney slight blackberry almost PX-like nose; rather sweet bit metallic very ripe/overripe/grapey slight spicy/blackberry/Zin raisened/PX-like flavor; med.long very grapey/ovverripe/pruney/raisened/PX-like slight boysenberry/Zin finish w/ some tannins; hanging on pretty well for a LH but probably never going to be a great wine.
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Mayacamas: Mayacamas made their first LateHrvst Zin in 1978, when the first of that genre showed up in Calif, including ones by DavidBruce and Ridge. It was made from NapaVlly grapes. Their next was the '72, where they went up to AmadorCnty/ShenandoahVlly and purchased grapes from Ed & Kay Baldinelli's vnyd. They had bought the former DicksonRanch there in 1972 and then started producing Zins & Cabernets a few yrs later. The original Zin vines were planted during Prohibition, but I believe the Baldinelli's planted the Cabernet. The vnyd was eventually sold to BillEaston. The VinoNoceto property is right adjacent. Ed & Kay lived down in Oakland, where Kay was in charge of the UC Benefits program. The vnyd manager was JohnMiller, who lived in a trailer there on the vnyd property.
I had my last '72 LH some 5-6 yrs ago and it was in pretty shakey condition. The '73 was always a pretty tight/wirey wine in its youth, which is probably why it's in such terrific condition now at 35 yrs of age. The '74 is still holding on pretty well for a LH, but I don't think it's ever going to develop into anything profound.
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2. Almaden: It's hard to believe but Almaden once made some very good wines back in the '70's under their Charles LeFranc label (he being the founder, pre-Prohibition days, of Almaden). Winemaker was, as I recall, EdFriedrichs, who went on to fame & fortune starting the Georgia wine industry. Because of the modest alcohol level, this was an obvious stuck fermentation wine that the packaged up smartly in order to salvage the wine. Their CabernetPfeffer was one of my favorites.
Back in the '70's, Almaden got a lot of small farmers to plant vnyds w/ the promise to buy their grapes for the rapidly expanding portfolio. Of course, they got into $$ trouble and reneged on the farmers, leaving us the benificary these days with lots of old-vine vnyds.
SanBenitoCnty never gets the recognition they deserve as a premium wine-growing area. I've had some terrific wines back then from Enz and LimeKilnWnry. Some of the current wines from Flint and DeRose are still pretty good. And, of course, Calera is the flagship wnry for the area.
Tom
