Cracked these two last night:
1. Santino Satyricon Calif RTW (43% Syrah/45% Grenache/12% Mourvedre; 220 cs; Bttld: 4/4/90; TA: 0.55 gm/100 ml; pH: 3.4; 18 mo. in small Fr.oak) Scott Harvey & Mike Montaldo 1988: Ullaged well onto shoulder; loose cork that punched in; dark rather murky brown color; rather cedary/pencilly/oldRed somewhat tired rather oxidized bit volatile/fumey complex bit old CdP nose; soft rather oxidized/very metallic fairly cedary/pencilly/oldRed very hot/alcoholic/fumey rather bitter/astringent flavor w/ light bitter tannins; strong very metallic/bitter rather oxidized finish; a bit of an nteresting relic wine but pretty much dead&gone.
________________
2. Renwood Zin FoxCreekVnyd/Jack Rabbit Flat/Amador Cnty (15.8%; Pre-prohibition vines; Btl #00855) Plymouth 1995: Med. strongly bricked color; strong cedary/pencilly/oldZin some blackberry/briary/boysenberry/ripe Zin/lightly spicy bit toasty/pencilly/oak some dusty/OV complex oldAmador Zin nose w/ slight oxidation character; soft rather cedary/penilly/oldZin some blackberry/Zin/briary/ripe/boysenberry some toasty/oak fairly dusty/OV slightly dried-out some complex flavor w/ lightly drying tannins; very long/lingering finish that mirrors flavor w/ light drying tannins; showing its age but still alive/has some fruit & offers up some pleasure still. Pretty much dead & gone by the next morning.
_______________________________________
More kibblegrit from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. After my trip down memory lane ystrday w/ Robert Smerling, I was tempted to revisit a Santino/Renwood wine. So I dug these two out.
The Satyricon was Scott's first shot of a Rhone wine shortly after he came aboard at Santino. I was expecting a bit more from it, but the cork seal was compromised, which may be why it was gone.
According to Smerling's Cabana WebSite, he made this Zin. Which is total BS. He wasn't even aboard at Renwood when Scott made this wine. That JackRabbitFlat Zin was always a good one and near the stature of his GrandPere. It was in much better shape than I was expecting...but definitely showing its age.
Tom