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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 90.7 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 182 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by wino121 on 9/6/2023 & rated 92 points: Stellar, integrated, ripe and ready, I’m actually surprised it’s held up this long..
Drink now.
I wouldn’t wait much longer. (350 views) | | | Tasted by Oldmanzin on 7/12/2021 & rated 93 points: What a wonderfully aged Zinfandel! The dark fruit is still present and accounted for, but it is walking side by side with garrigue, damp earth and Mediterranean spice notes. This wine was fantastic until the last drop. Good juice. (1436 views) | | | Tasted by Glencoewine on 2/13/2021 & rated 87 points: Prior bottle notes were from Jan 2018 and this was a different wine three years ago. I kept this bottle too long. As some recent reviews have noted, this appears faded and past its prime. It had an ok drinking window after about 60 min of air, but then seemed to fall apart, and wasn't good on day two. Drink up soon. (1510 views) | | | Tasted by ebert on 11/20/2020 & rated 94 points: Deep, fresh red fruit flavors with great complexity and mouth feel. Soft, complex tannins with clean, long finish. I'd drink soon since I don't think it will improve, but should last another 3 years and still have bright fruit flavors (1596 views) | | | Tasted by casjf on 1/5/2020 & rated 93 points: At its prime now. Delightful accompaniment to shrimp, andouille sausage, and chicken jambalaya. Black pepper and anise upon opening morphed to tobacco and black plum an hour or so later. Let breathe at least 30 minutes. (2141 views) | | | Tasted by Neat Water Back on 12/8/2019: PnP.
I think this is over the hill. Dull. Flat. Flabby as previously noted. The liveliness and excitement from my previous review are gone.
I would recommend drinking up sooner than later. (1817 views) | | | Tasted by rmcnees on 10/15/2019 & rated 88 points: I found it a bit 'flabby', not living up to its high accolades, perhaps because I held it too long, opening it after seven years from release. Dark ruby colored, medium full bodied, rich dense, James Suckling called it a 'funky old vine character ... with mushroom and bark undertones', sweet jammy black berry, spice, sage, anise and what WS calls 'smokey caramel' on a peppery finish.
https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2019/10/robert-biale-black-chicken-zinfandel.html (1367 views) | | | Tasted by TMethvin1 on 7/28/2019: 4.5 per me and amy (1447 views) | | | Tasted by Uncorked1962 on 2/1/2019 & rated 92 points: Rich, traditional Zin profile. Deep dark fruit, medium pepper, well balanced acid. Enjoyed with a mild BBQ and the pairing was amazing. (1634 views) | | | Tasted by bigbass250 on 1/1/2019: Still drinking great wish I had more (1191 views) | | | Tasted by southpaw25 on 8/19/2018 & rated 89 points: PNP. Better with food. (1660 views) | | | Tasted by Night Train on 7/27/2018 & rated 86 points: About the same as a bottle six weeks ago. Nice enough and well balanced. However, everything is somewhat muted, and tannins are conspicuously MIA. Definitely well past its peak. I plan to drink my last bottle pretty soon and match it with something fairly tame, like pulled pork with no sauce. (1667 views) | | | Tasted by Night Train on 6/9/2018 & rated 86 points: I suspect that I held this too long. Not jammy (good) and not noticeably hot. Decent nose. Very (too) smooth. Various red and black fruits, but minimal berry/bramble notes. Pleasant medium body and a good finish. Unfortunately, the absence of tannins made it less-than-suitable with food (BBQ in this instance). Other recent notes don't mention this, so maybe it was an off bottle. Hope so, since I have a couple more. (1918 views) | | | Tasted by davewr on 4/28/2018 & rated 91 points: black plum and fruit, maybe baking spice, integrated tannins and avidity. (1759 views) | | | Tasted by quaffnov on 3/30/2018 & rated 90 points: No formal note, this is a more muted version of a Biale than I have had previously, still good but not as good as other's I have tried, don't save it any longer if you have it, tasted to me like it was beginning its decline. (1676 views) | | | Tasted by kenthargis on 3/5/2018 & rated 93 points: This was a great bottle. Right combination of age, elegance, fruit and acid. Very nice effort. (1563 views) | | | Tasted by Glencoewine on 2/18/2018 & rated 91 points: 60 min decant. Agree with RustyRudy. Not a fruit bomb. Very enjoyable. (1340 views) | | | Tasted by Hannahgirl on 2/3/2018 & rated 92 points: Excellent. No reason to decant. Open and enjoy! Smooth with a nice finish. (1348 views) | | | Tasted by rustyRudy on 11/22/2017 & rated 91 points: Deep red almost purple. Spiced red apple and cinnamon nose. Candy apples, cherriy, and a hint of pepper on the finish. Moderate intensity, the fruit has toned down with time. Some subtle savory flavors on end palate. Not a fruit bomb. (1620 views) | | | Tasted by kandrfairview on 11/11/2017 & rated 85 points: Good & smooth but cork leaked. (1308 views) | | | Tasted by JSolo on 9/29/2017 & rated 92 points: Very good Zin. Biale is very consistent. (1277 views) | | | Tasted by CWilliam on 9/4/2017 & rated 92 points: 92+
Last of 3 bottles and the best.
Dark black color. On nose, savory fruit with sweet cherry & black cherry. Full body with medium acidity, long finish and similar flavor profile to nose. Very enjoyable and paired great with smoked pork shoulder. (1697 views) | | | Tasted by ericshaun on 8/5/2017: Passed prime. Flat and sweet. Too bad, great wine. Looking forward to my stash of 2014's. (2185 views) | | | Tasted by Wbanias on 6/5/2017 & rated 94 points: Very balanced. (2232 views) | | | Tasted by JSolo on 6/2/2017 & rated 92 points: Consistently good Zin from Biale. (1590 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, May/June 2014, IWC Issue #174
(Robert Biale Vineyards Zinfandel Black Chicken Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous. (manage subscription channels) |
| Robert Biale Producer website
Writeup in CalWineriesZinfandel ZAP: Zinfandel Advocates & Producers | Varietal character (Appellation America) | Wikipedia-ZinfandelBlack Chicken[Winery notes]: Aldo Answers The Call. “Hello Aldo, this is Giovanni. I’m fine, thank you. Per favore, when you come by on Friday bring me some tomatoes, a pound of walnuts, two dozen eggs and a black chicken… Prego.” This was a typical phone order to the rural farmhouse on north Napa’s El Centro Avenue in the 1940’s and ‘50’s. In 1942, Aldo Biale and his mother Christina were left to run the family farm in Napa after Pietro Biale died in an industrial accident. To make a little extra money during those lean years, teenaged Aldo began making barrels of Zinfandel from which he would bottle wine for his family and friends in need of good table wine. Aldo’s home phone was on a party line where nosy neighbors could listen in on calls. To maintain privacy. he instituted the code name, “black chicken,” for his wine. This system of phone call orders for produce, eggs and “black chickens” lasted for decades and even Aldo’s immigrant bride, Clementina, wasn’t in on the code for years. Today, we bottle this special (and fully legal) Zinfandel from the Biale family and nearby vineyards in memory of the old days. If you live in Napa, there’s still free delivery. USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Napa Valley Napa Valley Wineries and Wine (Napa Valley Vintners) |
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