April 21, 2013 - PnP through Nuance Wine Finer. Red fruit and spice on the nose. Not a super big zin. Lighter mouthfeel, with fairly well balanced juicy dark fruit, some smoke, some spice. Wonderful by alone. 89+ pts. Aloha!
October 17, 2012 - Too fruity for my taste.
August 8, 2012 - Dark purple, jammy nose with blackberry, black plum, oats and cardamom, syrupy black fruit, spice, black pepper and sweet bell pepper on the palate, finish is all blackberry
June 25, 2012 - Light and fruity. Smoothed out nicely in the decanter over an hour or two going from extremely ripe fruit with a bite, to just mouth watering juicy with a smokey oaky finish. Not nearly as rich, dark and heavy as the 2008 vintage.
January 13, 2012 - We're not big Zin drinkers any more here at Chez Lyon so take this with a grain of sugar... While not truly "smash mouth" like some big hitter Zins, this is still pretty big, alcoholic, ripe, and has either pretty good glycerin content or a trace residual sugar. The fruit IS forward, left, right and backward. Blackberry syrup, plum, with a hint of pepper. Might integrate a bit over the next year and hold for 2-3 more. Dang good for $14.
November 26, 2011 - Not strong like most zins I prefer. More like a spicy Pinot noir. Smokey, touch of oak, great table red for multi purpose Italian cuisine.
November 26, 2011 - Not strong or fruit forward. Well balanced, like a spicy Pinot Noir. Smoky, oaky. Great table red.
November 12, 2011 - Pleasantly surprised. A great wine. Pop and pour.
October 26, 2011 - Overwhelmingly fruit-forward. Not a typical zin peppery taste. Very simple. Goes well with lamb stew.
September 27, 2011 - Yum! Very tasty zin. Fruit-bomby, herbacious, well-balanced. Delicious.