I was happy to be among a small group of six folks who gathered together recently to work our way through a fine line-up of Zinfandels. We tasted through in the following order:
2003 Hartford Zinfandel Russian River Valley Hartford Vineyard. 15.1% abv. I was hoping for a more expressive nose on this wine, but even after an hour or more in my glass, it was difficult to coax much more out of it than dark, murky berry fruit, black pepper and a bit of smoke. In the mouth, it has a nice creamy texture with more of a red-fruited personality. The coffee-tinged finish exhibits some chalky tannins, a bit of drying wood and a bright shot of tangy acidity. I think this needs more time to come together—it feels awkward at this stage in its evolution. 87 pts.
2001 Ridge Zinfandel Pagani Ranch. 15.4% abv. (88% Zinfandel, 8% Alicante, 4% Petite Sirah). In comparison to the Hartford, the Ridge has a delightfully enticing bouquet, with a huge hit of raspberry compote to go with soft spices, black pepper and other warm red fruits. In the mouth, it is rich and dense, but finely balanced. There is a certain viscosity to the texture and it is quite mouth-filling, but it feels lively due to a solid backbone structure. There are sweet wild mixed berries galore at the core, with soft spices orbiting in satellite. The wine finishes fairly long, with a bit of woodiness and a faint indication of alcohol. Overall, it is a nice package and was up there as my wine of the night. 93 pts.
2004 Gamba Vineyards and Winery Zinfandel Russian River Valley Old Vines. 15.7% abv.This really starts out with a bang—offering up a soaring nose of black cherries and wild blueberries, with earthy bark and fern in the background. Flavors of sweet cherries, blueberries, and a lot of chocolate can be found within its velvety-textured profile—which has solid presence and persistence in the mouth. Chalky tannins are readily apparent, but they are offset by an interesting, almost sharp-edged twang that kicks in on the finish, to go along with some vanilla and oak notes. The alcohol here is also noticeable, but rather than being a distraction, it actually seems to fit into the profile quite nicely. A second glass later in the evening was a bit less coherent, marking my score down a bit. I should say that the sense I got was that this wine was a real crowd favorite. 90 pts.
2003 Rosenblum Cellars Zinfandel Rockpile Road Vineyard. 15.6% abv. The Rosenblum opens with an overtly sexy nose of very deep, super-sweet hyper-ripe berries, vanilla cream, coffee grounds and rich cocoa powder—it is a lot of fun to smell! In the mouth, it is velvety and coats the palate with a lot of dark cocoa and what probably amounts to over-ripe blackberry jam flavors. It shows its alcohol more than other wines this night. The finish is full, rich and long with a bit of drying tannins. 89 pts.
2003 Hendry Primitivo Napa Valley Block 24. 15.8% abv. This primitivo sports an elevated nose of primarily red berries and a whiff of acetone. On the palate, it is bright and very tangy, with bracing acidity—quite different than the wines preceding it. It is made in a comparatively dry style and the tannins are rather evident at this point. The flavors are in the red spectrum, with strawberries and soft cranberry. The finish is decent, but again dry and showing tannins. 87 pts.
2004 Linne Calodo Outsider Paso Robles. 16.2% abv. (68% Zinfandel, 20% Syrah, 12% Mourvedre). Here is a wine that just ratchets everything up an extra notch. The nose is uber-decadent, with big, mind-penetrating aromas of prune, fruitcake, incense, spices and dark roasted coffee. It is the kind of nose that keeps drawing you back, even though you know it is on or perhaps over the edge. The wine is plush and medium to full-bodied in the mouth, with dark berries, espresso and lots of chocolate flavors. It finishes long and chocolaty, folding in more spices and letting the chalky tannins make their presence felt. Our host likened this to a California GSM--maybe it should be labeled a ZSM? This bottle was voted wine of the night by the group and I rated it 92 pts. However, I do have to report that after spending a night in the refrigerator, the wine the next day felt way out of balance, with strong fig and raisin Amarone-like aromas and the sweet fruit coming across as totally cloying. So, I suppose my overall rating would come down a few points to reflect that.
1999 Ridge Lytton Springs. (70% Zinfandel, 17% Petite Sirah, 10% Carignane, 3% Mataro). I got to this wine quite a bit after everyone else, and all reports were that it opened quite funky with obvious brett. By the time I got to it, the wine was definitely still showing some horse barn, mushroom, leather and tobacco aromas to go along with red currants, meatier dark fruit, caramel and incense. It has a very pleasing dark sweetness to the fruit in the mouth, and shows hints of cassis overriding the faint brambly berry fruits. Tannins are rather dry on the finish, but otherwise it is very smooth. Overall, it seems like a wine caught between two worlds—moving in the direction of a claret, but still holding onto some of that brambly berry style. 91 pts.
2005 Brown Estate Zinfandel Napa Valley. 15.4% abv. I was first introduced to Brown Estate Zinfandel at an excellent soul food restaurant in San Francisco. So, when I spotted it at a store there on a return trip, I snapped up some of this more recent vintage. The 2005 has a classy nose of pure blackberry, licorice and vanilla bean. It is moderately syrupy in the mouth, with a tight core of blueberry fruit and some spices. It is tightly-grained and already showing good concentration and layering, if not necessarily complexity. Some soft wood way in the background adds a bit of complexity, but overall it feels like a wine that needs some time to unfold. The finish is long and seems to come in waves, sporting very fine tannins. On day 2, the wine was just as good, if not better. This is all very promising—hold for a year and it should be really fine. 92 pts.
2004 Turley Zinfandel Juvenile. 16.1% abv. The Turley seems more red-fruited on the nose than most of the other Zins tried tonight. There are also some herbal and green coffee notes. Dense in the mouth, with chocolate, crushed red berries, cream and spice flavors, it kicks in with a bit of grainy oak on the solid finish. I’d give this a few more years. 90 pts.
At the end of the tasting, we also tackled a sweet/fortified Zin in the form of a 375 ml bottle of 2003 Hartford Zinfandel Port Russian River Valley. 20% abv. My notes read: “Wow, is this sweet”. Velvety crushed raspberries on the nose. Warm and gooey in the mouth with dark cherry and spirits flavors. Big shot of tang on the finish. On the whole, it was a fun treat to try, but was a bit too much after all those other Zins.
Overall, a nice tasting that demonstrated how enjoyable good Zin can be.
-Michael