Tried these two old DeLoach Zins ystrday at Pig+Fig:
1. DeLoach Zin Pelletti Ranch/RRV (14.6%; EB; Plntd: 1928 by Alcide Pelletti) SantaRosa 1993: Dark color w/ lots of browning; strong cedary/pencilly/oldZin little fruit rather tired nose; lightly tart rather tired/oldZin/cedary/pencilly little fruit quite tired flavor w/ light astringent tannins; med.long finish follows flavor; pretty much a dead & gone Zin but not much oxidation though. $15.00
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2. DeLoach Zin Barbieri Ranch/RRV (13.7%; EB; Plntd: 1905 by Italo Barbieri) 1993: Dark color w/ fairly browning; mich more Zin fruit quite spicy/Zin rather cedary/pencilly/oldZin bit complex nose; some tart strong Zin/spicy/blackberry bit dusty/OV some cedary/pencilly/oldZin slight earthy some complex flavor w/ slight drying/astringent tannins; very long bit dried out finish mirrors flavor; shows signs of its advanced age but still shows a remarkable degree of Zin fruit; a bit tired on the palate but still in fairly good shape. $15.00
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More dillerspatz from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. The Pelletti Vnyd is, of course, what eventually became named the Carlisle Vnyd and went on to fame & fortune under Mike Officer.
In the '80's, Cecil & Christine DeLoach, under the DeLoachVnyds label, started making vnyd-designate Zins from there in the RRV. Forget the names of the other two vnyds. Nothing to do with old age, be assured. They were some of the greatest Zins made in Calif & it was great fun to taste all four side-by-side. Sometime in the late '90's, the Zins started to decline in quality. Visiting w/ Cecil at various wine events, it was clear he had lost his passion for his winemaking. They eventually sold their DeLoachVnyds to the Boisset family and moved across the road to start their Hook & Ladder Winery, a tribute to Cecil's early career as a fire fighter in SanFrancisco afore he bought the Barbieri Ranch & founded DeLoach.
Haven't had any H&L wines in quite some time now & don't know how they are. I haven't had any contact w/ Cecil & Christine in quite some time but I believe they are still alive...not read otherwise. But they must be up there in their yrs. Their son, Jason, runs the H&L Wnry nowadays I believe.
Anyway, Cecil made some great vnyd-designate Zins in his day & paved the way for Mike Officer & Morgan Twain-Peterson, who went on to even greater heights.
Tom