February 17, 2020 - Teeth staining only purple. Still youthful at age 17. Rusty bark and crushed black pepper. Massive palate with gorgeous complex cola and minerals. Very long resonant finish. Still mostly primary. This will go a very long time.
January 13, 2018 - still has life. If this is past its peak the peak must have been incredible
February 27, 2017 - Still has rich delicious fruit that seems to be mostly primary...raspberry jam (in flavor more than weight), mandarin orange, great structure- both acid and still a decent amount of tannin, not hot despite 15.9%. If this is past it's peak then it must have been some peak...I think it still has some great years left in it
November 13, 2016 - Not sure what this was like in its youth, but today it is showing all red fruit and medium+ acidity. Tannins are still present but in a good way. A lovely aged zin. Carlisle continues to impress
May 4, 2013 - Still holds up, weakens after an hour or two.
June 3, 2012 - A good Zin. This is obviously Zin and not Syrah (or some other varietal) which is how I like my Zin. Big and bold, but the structure its starting to dominate. Also server sllightly chilled because this is showing a bit HOT. The 15.9% alcohol is becoming noticable. Drink up!
May 27, 2012 - 15.9% ABV. Translucent dark garnet in the glass. Ripe boysenberry nose with a touch of raisin. This is starting to fade, but still drinking pretty well at nine years old.
October 10, 2011 - Last bottle of this. Held a bit too long but still interesting and complex. More red fruit than black fruit vs. memory. Still balanced and good structure, making it food friendly. This wasn't the best vintage of the Carlisle Vin but still great to see how it held up 8yrs post vintage. Will click through my remaining 04s soon, thinking that these do well with 5+ yrs but why waste perfectly awesome zin seeing how long they'll hold up? :)
November 1, 2010 - What a fantastic zin, great structure and length. I continue to be very impressed with the Carlisle Vineyard bottlings and am happy to be long on those. This one had a red fruit core with dust and spices. For all skeptics that say zin can't/shouldn't age this is one foil to that theory. Not a plush wine, instead focused and serious. Very contemplative, and if I may, terrior-driven. Very enjoyable now, will drink my last bottle within the next year.
September 18, 2010 - 15.9% ABV. Dark ruby garnet, slightly translucent in the glass. Aromatic muted clove spice nose, something like clove toned down with an earthier brown spice, along with a slight raisin/dried fig note. Medium full bodied with spicy, tangy black raspberry and black cherry fruit. This is still tasting great, but is showing a little heat and I do get the sense that it is slightly past its prime, given a tiny nuance of tea I thought I noticed and the fading of the fruit on the nose to a more dried fig/raisin aroma.