Zinfandels on a Saturday Afternoon

Yesterday my wife and I joined 6 others at the local cooking school for a five course lunch. This is a BYO affair and yesterday's theme for that was Zinfandel. All the wines were pop and poured and enjoyed over two hours. The food went from meh to very good, the wines were good and the company great. A nice way to spend the first afternoon in a while with temps finally over 32F.

• 2013 Sineann Old Vine Zinfandel 92 Points

  USA, Oregon, Columbia Valley

  Purple in color. The nose has dark cherries and some spice. Very deep. The palate also has dark cherries with some coffee notes. With air, some sour cherries emerge. This is mostly "red" fruit although very intense. Middle of the road Zin in terms of style. Other vintages have really improved with age and I think this does as well as a glass left in the bottle and consumed at home later in the evening was the best.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2011 Bedrock Wine Co. Zinfandel Rowe Vineyard 92 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Northern Sonoma

  First time trying this wine IIRC. Wonderful nose of raspberries, chocolate and spice. Huge but delicious nose. Leaner on the palate, but still quite nice. Black raspberries, some cedar notes and a bit of blueberries. Delicious. Developed with air.

  Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2010 Linne Calodo Outsider 94 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  Great wine. My WOTN. Wonderful nose of black raspberries, bramble, grilled meat and spice. Very smooth and enticing texture. Black raspberry fruit on the palate with some bramble. This is big and full throttle but within bounds. Great acidity to balance it off. Textbook California Zinfandel for me (although its 80% Zin).

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2011 Sandler Wine Company Zinfandel Buck Hill Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County

  My wife described this as a Pinot styled Zin and I think that works well. Light ruby in color. The nose has nice cherries. On the palate cherries with a nice streak of acidity. Certainly more body and stuffing than a Pinot but in that vein. I enjoyed it very much, however, this is probably not the best environment for showcasing its finesse.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2010 Carlisle Zinfandel Monte Rosso Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley

  Purple in color. The nose is black cherries with a whiff of alcohol. Both the black cherries and alcohol carry thru to the palate. There is a lot of stuffing here and it slowly opens up, but always seems to be reticent. I bet the leftovers showed well that night. This is shut down a bit right now, so give it some air when opening or wait a bit on it.

  Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2011 Carlisle Zinfandel Martinelli Road Vineyard 94 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  Mike O. just nailed his Zins in 2011. Actually, I had this once before and found it a bit disappointing. This bottle was significantly better and more in line with all of the other 11's I have had from Carlisle. Either I was off or the bottle or both on the last one. Purple in color and very bright. The nose has black raspberries, raspberries, spice and a bit of vanilla. The texture is amazing. Juicy, silky, and velvety all at the same time. I wanted to take the bottle and just keep pouring. (I did go back for seconds). Black raspberry fruit. Great acidity. I know Mike thinks these will age for a while, and they probably will, but they 11's are so enticing young. Loved this one.

  Post a Comment / 4 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2009 Saxum Paderewski Vineyard 91 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  Pop and pour. Purple in color. The nose is consumed with alcohol. It is hard to sniff it. I let it sit a bit in the glass and that calmed down. Black raspberry fruit but also plenty of alcohol on the nose. The palate was the same way with a strong cough syrup quality. Most at the table complained about it. The wine seemed shut down hard as well. Just not giving much up to me. Hard to score this one and my expectations were so high, I am probably being hard on it, but maybe, to be fair 88. It was quite a disappointment to everyone at the table I think. There was a glass left that I drank later at night when at home and it was significantly better. The nose had that black raspberry with a bit of spice and some black cherries. No hear. The texture was wonderful. Creamy yet with plenty of strength. Great black raspberry fruit and depth and complexity. All the alcohol and heat were gone from my senses. I might score that last glass 94+ points. I can only assume this wine is not in a good spot right now. I never think of Zins shutting down, but this one certainly seemed to be shut down. If I was opening another bottle, I would give it a very long decant. I believe this is 39% Zin, with an equal amount of Syrah, and also some Petite Sirah and Mourvedre.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2012 Saxum Paderewski Vineyard 93 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  Good to try this next to the 09 to see what these look like young. Purple in color. The nose has black raspberries, raspberries, a floral note and some alcohol. With time the alcohol blows off. On the palate, great texture, medium tannins. Great black raspberry fruit and a bit of a coffee ground note. Lovely balance. Long finish. This got better all afternoon long with air. I believe this is 45% Zin with Mourvedre, Tempranillo and Petite Sirah.

  Post a Comment / 3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2012 Sineann Zinfandel Sweet Sydney 91 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  I brought this out late (sorry Charlie, I forgot I had it in the bag). 38% RS. Light pale ruby/orange in color. The nose has peaches and cherries. Viscous. It is very sweet and I would not mind a bit more acidity, but very nice. Others seemed to like it better. Nice sweet cherry fruit on the palate. A pleasant way to end the day.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

So the question I have is do Zinfandels shut down. With the exception of Ridge and maybe Swan, I never really age them so I don't know. I do the 10 Carlisle and 09 Saxum were both shut down hard and I did not plan for that. If so, what is that ageing curve? The Zins I have allowed to age get a wonderful Bordeaux like quality about them. However, so does wine from Bordeaux. Why age Zins when they are so good young and so distinctive? Still, there is no denying some Zins are great with age. There is always more to learn.