We tried these three last night w/ PorkRagu atop PastaShards:
1.Ridge Calif Zin BuchagnaniRanch (79% Zin/18% Carignane/3% PS; 14.0%; 44 brls; Bttld: jan'05; Drk: 10/04-10/07-10/09: JO/PD) 2003: Dark color w/ slight bricking; bit earthy/dusty/minerally some DraperPerfume/oak/pencilly light licorice/blackberry/Zin somewhat complex nose; soft rather smooth/velvety light pencilly/vanilla/oak light raspberry/licorice rather complex slight tannic/drying out flavor; med.long bit tannic/drying out smooth/elegant somewhat pencilly/oak/vanilla/smokey light raspberry/Zin/licorice/pungent/spicy complex finish; smooth/elegant Zin but starting to dry out & crack up; a gentle/mild-mannered old lady of a Zin that was one hot chick in her day. $24.00
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2. TheOjaiVnyd Apricots Zin HallRanch (13%; 30 cs) 1995: Med.color w/ some browning; rather strong pencilly/old Zin/perfumed bit licorice/raspberry/Zin slight earthy/musty (that clears) complex nose; soft rather pungent/charred/pencilly/oak smooth licorice/pungent/smokey/charred some dried out flavor;long slight medicinal/band-aid smooth/elegant slight tannic/dried out some pungent/smokey/charred/oak pencilly/old Zin finish; come together nicely and offers up some real pleasure but starting to crack up on the shoals of old age. $16.00
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3. Chateau l'Avocat AC: Cerons (95% Semillon/5% SauvBlanc; 13%) 2007: Med.dark gold color; very strong botrytis/honeyed/peachy strong butterscotchy/caramel/creme brulee slight herbal/earthy slightly volatile beautiful complex authentic Sauternes nose; soft pretty sweet strong botrytis/peachy/apricotty butterscotchy/creme brulee/toasty/oak slightly earthy flavor; very long slight herbal/earthy strong peachy/botrytis/apricotty bit butterscotch/creme brulee/oak fairly sweet finish; not the richness & lushness of great Sauternes but awfully danged close; screamin' deal at
$17.00/500 ml
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. The Ridge was far more of a pleasure to drink than the recent '05, which I thought was too fumey/hot/alcoholic.
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2. OjaiApricots: This was one of AdamTolmach's early Zins, though not his first by any means. It came from the HallRanch in LowerOjai. Fairly old-vine Zin that I believe still exists.
They used to sell apricots at their farm-stand there on the ranch. To advertise, they painted a big "Apricots" on the side of a big/wooden irrigation tank trailer and stationed it out by the road. Adam had a drawing of the tank on the front label. You can still see it there roadside when you drive that highway South outta Ojai.
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3. Cerons: This is a tiny AC within the Sauternes AOC that one seldom sees. Generally not as sweet as regular Sauternes. Found this recent arrival at K&L and their writeup sounded sufficiently enticing that I order up 3 btls. Mightly impressed w/ this wine & will be going back for more. A great poor-man's Sauternes when you don't want to spend big $$'s.
Tom