I'll turn 75 on Monday, and I threw a birthday party Saturday for family and friends who could make it.
I decided, even though I'm the only real wino in the family, to break out some old wine to enjoy, so I got out a vertical of David Coffaro Block 4 from 2002 through 2005. (Block 4 is a field blend of Zinfandel, Carignane and other grapes, with vines dating back to the 1880s.)
The party was great, of course.
As there were leftovers of all the wine, I drank them again this evening with a dry-aged rib steak dinner.
Of the wines, the '02 had the artificial foam stopper "cork" gizmotron, and it was spoiled. Interesting, though, in that it didn't smell "off", though the aroma was a bit on the weak side, and tasting it, the first impression wasn't bad either. But getting it to the mid-palate, everything turned sour. The more swishing, the worse. <sigh>
All the other bottles were screw-capped. David uses Stelvin brand.
And they were all fine in terms of "keeping".
They all said "Block 4" and probably would have even if I didn't see the bottles. The only ringers that would have likely fooled me might have been Ridge Geyserville or Dry Creek Vineyard Beeson Ranch Zin. (But I have been fooled before.)
They were both relatively young in color and aroma and flavor. They both made me think of a typical '09 DCV Zin in terms of age. I attribute that to the screwcap.
The '03 was slightly more "refined" in the sense of having the tannins in recession, but that did tend to show the alcohol.
The '04 fit the pattern of the last 10 or 20 years in DCV, being rather brasher, stouter, meatier and so forth.
Of the 3, I liked the '05 best, then the '04, then the '03.
They all have Coffaro fruitiness and relatively high alcohol, and yet the alcohol doesn't intrude at all.