Tried this a few days ago w/ Susan:
1. Radio-Coteau Zin LeMorel SonomaCoast/SonomaCnty (15.0%; U/U; www.RadioCoteau.com) Sebastopol 2015: Very dark/near black color; very intense blackberry/boysenberry/ripe/very spicy Zin quite dusty/OV quite black pepper light pencilly/Fr.oak rather complex nose; fairly tart/tangy intense blackberry/peppery/boysenberry/ripe Zin/very spicy quite dusty/OV light pencilly/oak very structured rather complex flavor w/ modest tangy/brisk tannins; very long/lingering intense blackberry/peppery/very spicy Zin/ripe/boysenberry very structured quite dusty/OV complex finish w/ modest tangy tannins; very classic OV/c-c peppery Zin; a beautiful Zin that can still use a few more yrs.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Lots of ripe Zin fruit but not at all alcoholic or over-the-top; this is exactly how a Pinot producer would make a big/brawny Zin if he could...and he can.
This is, of course, the old vonWeidlich vnyd that is now farmed by EricSussman. Before that it was farmed by Brad Alper of Ottomino, who made some great Zins from that vnyd. This was the source of the old Ridge Occidental Zins in the early '70's. Because Occidental is such a cold-climate to be growing Zin, Ridge always had trouble getting the grapes ripe enough to beat down the acidity. PaulDraper recounts how one yr, they drove up to vonWeidlich to pick up the picked grapes in lug boxes. As they drove up, he saw Robert vW dumping bags of sugar on the grapes in the lug boxes. Finally, in the late '70's, gave up on the vnyd because of the isue to ripen the grapes. Big mistake.
I think Eric probably does an even better job w/ vW Zin than anybody, probably even PaulDraper/DaveBennion. Though the Ridge Occidental LateHrvst Zin '70 was a legendary wine.
There used to be another old-vine Zin vnyd not too far from vW that Eric-Ross used to make a great OV zin from. Not sure what happened to that vnyd, if it's still there, or where those grapes go nowadays.
Tom