Would there were more $13.50 wines that will develop nicely over a few years!
I tasted this in barrel and bumped up my order, making a mental note that it would need some time.
In May '05 I noted, "Better than it tasted in barrel! Very nice smooth Zin!"
That November I wrote, "Excellent! Still pretty tannic, but lots of backing. A typical David Coffaro wine."
And then, because there is so much wine and so little of me, I left it alone for a while.
I opened another bottle tonight, with spaghetti (some more tomorrow with country-style spare ribs), and found it "Right at its peak. PS showing, adding brightness to the zin. Remarkably long, and very muted tannins compared to 1½ years ago."
It's California Dry Creek Valley, 77% Zin, 16% Petite Syrah, 7% Cab Sauv. 512 cases produced, 14.9% alcohol.
This was the first year that David Coffaro used screwcaps instead of genuine artificial cork-like stoppers. So far, I see no reason to worry about the screwcaps. The wine develops just fine.