Tried these side-by-side the other night:
1. RosenblumCllrs Zin GeorgeHendryVnyd/MtVeeder/NapaVlly (13.6%) 1991: Med.dark color w/ some browning; strong pencilly/cedary/old Zin/earthy/smokey very light blackberry/boysenberry/Zin spicy complex nose; soft/smooth slight dried out/tannic light blackberry/boysenberry/spicy/Zin rather pencilly/cedary/smokey/ol Zin complex flavor; very long light blackberry/spicy/Zin/cranberry quite cedary/pencilly/cigar box/old Zin smooth/polished bit metallic slightly dried out/tannic fairly complex finish; lots of cedary/old Zin character but sliding downhill; more of an intellectual pleasure than a sensual pleasure but still offers up pleasure nonetheless.
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2. RosenblumCllrs Zin MichaelMarstonVnyd/SpringMtn/NapaVlly (13.7%; 85 yr old vines) 1991: Med.dark ratherr brown color; ratherr pencilly/cedary/cigar box/old Zin light dusty/old vine very slight blackberry/Zin fruit rather complex nose; soft/very smooth light cedary/pencilly/smokey/old Zin/cigar box little fruit complex flavor w/ very slight dried out/tannic bite; med.long slight menthol/smokey/pungent very smooth/soft/velvety somewhat cedary/pencilly/old Zin finish w/ little tannins; much smoother/velvety on the palate and not as much dried out/old Zin character but also less fruit; nice complex old Zin.
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A sorry excuse for a BloodyPulpit:
1. Both of these old Zins were about where I expected and showing lots of old Zin character but not yet totally gone; the Hendry showed more fruit but also a bit more tannic/dried out character on the palate; the Marston was quite smooth/velvety on the palate and more of a pleasure to drink.
After several hrs of opening, the two wines were noticibly browner and a bit murky in color; signs of a highly reduced wine undergoing oxidation. But, even after sitting out on the counter in their decanters; they wines hadn't changed a whole lot over the course of a day. In fact, they seemed not quite as tannic & dried out on the palate, but that could very well be a temperature effect. Usually, such old Zins are pretty well shot by the next day. These were not.
I remember tasting both of these wines from barrel w/ Kent, back in the good ol' days. I was very impressed by both of them, but easily preferred the Marston. These are not wines that would appeal to everyone, but they had special meaning for me.
Tom