Tried this last night:
1. Turley Zin AidaVnyd/NapaVlly (15.6%) 1996: Dark color w/ some browning; rather smokey/pencilly/toasty/oak slight blackberry/licorice/pungent/old Zin some alcoholic/fumey slight earthy/musty/root cellar/mushroomy/old Zin nose; soft/smooth somewhat cedary/pencilly/old Zin slight blackberry/licorice/pungent/smoked herbs/mushroomy bit alcoholic/hot flavor; smooth/gentle rather pencilly/cedary/old Zin slight blackberry/licorice bit hot/alcoholic/fumey finish; still has a bit of fruit left & not drying out/tannic at all; an attractive old lady of a Zin. $25.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. I just grabbed this wine as a throw-away wine and expecting it to be totally dead & gone. It was not. Though clearly on the down-side, it still had a few nice thoughts to share. I was expecting it to be dried-out/tannic/astringent. It was not...it was rather smooth & gentle and will probably continue its slide into senility...sorta like venerated icons.
This wine was made early in EhrenJordan's regime as he was transitioning away from HelenTurley's winemaking style. Turley was garnishing big points out of Monktown and they were a very hot item. I'm looking forward to where Tegan takes the Turley Zins and fully expect them to continue their upward climb in quality..and probably a concomitant decline in points.
Tom