Wine Rating Methodology 96-100: One of the most enjoyable wines I have ever tasted. I would not hesitate to open this wine for any Master of Wine. 91-95: Extremely enjoyable wine that I would drink and buy again. Fantastic to open up for those who appreciate wine. 85-90: Decent to good wine. Weekday bottle you don’t feel guilty about not finishing. Below 85: would not drink or buy again. ***Price of wine vs. enjoyment (value) is taken into consideration ***I do not provide tasting notes as everyone’s palate is different, and will have a different experience.
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Popped and poured; enjoyed over a 24-hour period with very little evolution. No formal notes. Enjoyed alongside the 2015. Tonight, the 2019 showed brighter and almost exercised some restraint. Definitely still showing signs of its youth and a more proportional mix of red and black bramble fruit when compared to the 2015 which was more black in profile. Balanced and endowed with great structure; acid showing particularly well. Better after 2025 but I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see myself enjoying this late into the 2030’s.
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Been drinking a bottle of this every 8 months or so. Part of a wine club shipment. Keep improving. Has that nice Zin bramble without being too jammy. blackberry cherry licorice tobacco chocolate . Very enjoyable Zin.
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Dark garnet color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of flowers, boysenberries, plums and cherries. Flavors of raspberries, boysenberries and cherries. Tangy acidity, medium to firm tannin, full bodied. Drink or hold.
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Had my first vintage of this 8 months ago and it has improved from 91 to 92. Ridge and A. Rafanelli are my favorite Zin producers. blackberry cherry pepper bramble cinnamon
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Drank side by side with a 2019 Carlisle Vineyard Carlisle, both very good, divided vote in the end on the winner. I preferred the Carlisle but it was close. The Raf by comparison came across jammier and more extracted, and I would have guessed 1-2% higher in alcohol although only a 0.2% difference.
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Smooth and refined relative to so many extracted, alcoholic zins. Relatively simple and pleasant, which makes it better rounded for a variety of food pairings and moods.
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This is a delicious Zin! The nose is rich with fruit and the body is full without being jammy. The acid balances out the fruit just right. The finish is long and smooth!
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Opened & poured 2 glasses 30 min. before drinking. Unlike last bottle, no initial oakiness at all, either blew off quickly or was never there. And great as usual.
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Too oaky at first, not uncommon for these when still relatively young. Better day 2. Ideally need to give these a decant or hold longer. Score = day 2.
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Purple in color. 14.8% ABV. Awesome nose of black fruits, licorice and pepper. Medium to full bodied with mouth watering acidity. Black cherry, black raspberry, earth and pepper on the palate. Tremendous length on the finish with subtle, dusty tannins. About as good as Zinfandel gets from the Dry Creek Valley. Best over the next 4-6 years.
Recent club shipment and decided to try the 2019 vintage. Bottle 1 of 6 and drinks young, needing more time to open up, integrate, and gain complexity. Blackberry, pepper, bramble, baking spice.
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Wonderful nose of blueberries which then translates into the first sip. Medium body, not overly extracted or sweet. Decanted for a few hours before drinking. Friends thought it was a southern Rhone and when it was revealed a Rafanelli zin everyone went back and retested. This is good but like others I think it needs time in the cellar. Will wait another year before opening another bottle.
Medium ruby. Tasting blind one would think this is an old world wine- so much elegance, surprising for a zin which we expect to pop. Medium minus intensity aromas of anise, mint, blackcurrant, red cherry, black and blueberries, cinnamon, steel. On the palate the wine is dry with medium plus acidity, medium soft ripe tannins, high alcohol, medium body. The flavor intensity is medium plus with flavors of anise, mint, blackcurrant, red cherry, black and blueberries, cinnamon, steel and a lingering minty finish. Very good wine, will continue to develop over the next 5-7 years. Really an elegant zin.
First experience with the 2019 vintage. Poured into a decanter roughly 8 hours prior to service. Initially deep purple color on the pour, it lightens up and becomes more ruby after the extended breathing. Bright bramble fruit, some pomegranate, some black pepper, medium-plus acid, medium tannin. Killer with lamb chops. Extremely youthful right now but quite enjoyable with patience. Like most vintages of Rafanelli’s Zinfandel, this will be better after 2-3 years of cellar time. This will be rocking after 2024+.
14.8% abv. Dark ruby, very aromatic. Deep, intense, long, wild and spicy, this is great now and will develop into an exceptionally fine A Raf Zin over the next 3-8 years.
3/23/2024 - jamokebob Likes this wine: 91 Points
Perfect with lamb rib chops.
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1/3/2024 - MaVino13 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Wine Rating Methodology
96-100: One of the most enjoyable wines I have ever tasted. I would not hesitate to open this wine for any Master of Wine.
91-95: Extremely enjoyable wine that I would drink and buy again. Fantastic to open up for those who appreciate wine.
85-90: Decent to good wine. Weekday bottle you don’t feel guilty about not finishing.
Below 85: would not drink or buy again.
***Price of wine vs. enjoyment (value) is taken into consideration
***I do not provide tasting notes as everyone’s palate is different, and will have a different experience.
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12/2/2023 - thesternowl wrote: 92 Points
Popped and poured; enjoyed over a 24-hour period with very little evolution. No formal notes. Enjoyed alongside the 2015. Tonight, the 2019 showed brighter and almost exercised some restraint. Definitely still showing signs of its youth and a more proportional mix of red and black bramble fruit when compared to the 2015 which was more black in profile. Balanced and endowed with great structure; acid showing particularly well. Better after 2025 but I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see myself enjoying this late into the 2030’s.
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10/6/2023 - tedcholl Likes this wine: 92 Points
Been drinking a bottle of this every 8 months or so. Part of a wine club shipment. Keep improving. Has that nice Zin bramble without being too jammy. blackberry cherry licorice tobacco chocolate . Very enjoyable Zin.
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8/3/2023 - tedcholl Likes this wine: 92 Points
Wine club purchase. A tasty Zin. Cherry, raspberry. blackberry, spices.
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6/3/2023 - DannyM wrote:
Enjoyed with Llanos, always fantastic!
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5/25/2023 - wineismylife wrote: 92 Points
WIML92
Tasted non blind.
Dark garnet color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of flowers, boysenberries, plums and cherries. Flavors of raspberries, boysenberries and cherries. Tangy acidity, medium to firm tannin, full bodied. Drink or hold.
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4/25/2023 - Brain Capers Likes this wine:
First bottle of the 2019. Drinking vey well, rich sweet CA (dry creek) Zinfandel. Went perfectly with eggplant Rollatini, from the Tartine book. Yum!
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4/6/2023 - jon.siracusa Likes this wine: 94 Points
Try to find a better Sonoma Zinfandel. I’ll wait.
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3/14/2023 - tedcholl Likes this wine: 92 Points
The second of 6 bottles I purchased from their wine club. Always an excellent Zinfandel. Cherry, blackberry, black pepper. Enjoyable.
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2/8/2023 - tedcholl Likes this wine:
Had my first vintage of this 8 months ago and it has improved from 91 to 92. Ridge and A. Rafanelli are my favorite Zin producers. blackberry cherry pepper bramble cinnamon
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1/28/2023 - PVJC Likes this wine: 93 Points
Drank side by side with a 2019 Carlisle Vineyard Carlisle, both very good, divided vote in the end on the winner. I preferred the Carlisle but it was close. The Raf by comparison came across jammier and more extracted, and I would have guessed 1-2% higher in alcohol although only a 0.2% difference.
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1/8/2023 - WineDoctors Likes this wine: 94 Points
Ridiculously delicious like I have never tasted this eine before. Bright jam supple full bodied plum and blackberry With welcome home lasagna
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11/4/2022 - pballwzrd Likes this wine:
nice balance
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11/1/2022 - pgb67 wrote: 94 Points
Summer and Fall 2022 Wine Adventures (Corolla, NC & Three Rivers, MI & Dogwood Grove, VA): A fruit bomb in the best sense of the phrase, but at the same time shows some old world elegance. Explosive initial flavors of black cherry are balanced out by sophisticated notes of mocha and sage. Enjoyable to drink.
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10/20/2022 - Montesquieu Likes this wine: 90 Points
Smooth and refined relative to so many extracted, alcoholic zins. Relatively simple and pleasant, which makes it better rounded for a variety of food pairings and moods.
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7/23/2022 - thh18731 Likes this wine: 94 Points
This is a delicious Zin! The nose is rich with fruit and the body is full without being jammy. The acid balances out the fruit just right. The finish is long and smooth!
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7/17/2022 - PVJC Likes this wine: 92 Points
Opened & poured 2 glasses 30 min. before drinking. Unlike last bottle, no initial oakiness at all, either blew off quickly or was never there. And great as usual.
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6/26/2022 - PVJC Likes this wine: 92 Points
Too oaky at first, not uncommon for these when still relatively young. Better day 2. Ideally need to give these a decant or hold longer. Score = day 2.
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6/11/2022 - tomlee wrote: 93 Points
Purple in color. 14.8% ABV. Awesome nose of black fruits, licorice and pepper. Medium to full bodied with mouth watering acidity. Black cherry, black raspberry, earth and pepper on the palate. Tremendous length on the finish with subtle, dusty tannins. About as good as Zinfandel gets from the Dry Creek Valley. Best over the next 4-6 years.
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6/4/2022 - WineDoctors wrote: 92 Points
This is such a refined version of this wine. Likely adaptive to this season. The cork is lightly stained. technique is different and revered.
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5/25/2022 - tedcholl Likes this wine: 91 Points
Recent club shipment and decided to try the 2019 vintage. Bottle 1 of 6 and drinks young, needing more time to open up, integrate, and gain complexity. Blackberry, pepper, bramble, baking spice.
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4/12/2022 - cpdwines Likes this wine: 90 Points
Very young wine...
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2/19/2022 - Mike Dildine Likes this wine: 94 Points
Outstanding DCV Zin.
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2/14/2022 - daosailor Likes this wine: 90 Points
Wonderful nose of blueberries which then translates into the first sip. Medium body, not overly extracted or sweet. Decanted for a few hours before drinking. Friends thought it was a southern Rhone and when it was revealed a Rafanelli zin everyone went back and retested. This is good but like others I think it needs time in the cellar. Will wait another year before opening another bottle.
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1/1/2022 - Ikel73 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Lots of fruit and spice. Still young. Id wait till 2023
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12/11/2021 - bowmanbc Likes this wine: 92 Points
feels like this has potential to get even better
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11/24/2021 - Mike Dildine Likes this wine: 93 Points
Dry Creek at its finest.
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8/2/2021 - Mike Dildine Likes this wine: 94 Points
Really good Dry Creek Zin, on the ascent.
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6/16/2021 - Mike Dildine Likes this wine: 94 Points
Classic!
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6/6/2021 - quoppy Likes this wine:
Medium body. Cocoa, berries, pepper, star anise, and orange skin. Leaves a nice mildly sweet coating in the mouth.
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5/16/2021 - bowmanbc Likes this wine: 91 Points
really good now and excited to try it later on
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5/12/2021 - Mike Dildine Likes this wine: 93 Points
Classic A Raf, which means classic Dry Creek Zinfandel. This will continue to improve for many years.
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4/30/2021 - matgal9 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Very good now. Gonna be killer in 23.
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4/26/2021 - amanofwords Does not like this wine: 85 Points
The classic Rafanelli jamminess is overwhelmed by strong vegetal notes. The worst of Rafanelli’s recent vintages.
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4/22/2021 - dbay Likes this wine: 91 Points
Medium ruby. Tasting blind one would think this is an old world wine- so much elegance, surprising for a zin which we expect to pop. Medium minus intensity aromas of anise, mint, blackcurrant, red cherry, black and blueberries, cinnamon, steel. On the palate the wine is dry with medium plus acidity, medium soft ripe tannins, high alcohol, medium body. The flavor intensity is medium plus with flavors of anise, mint, blackcurrant, red cherry, black and blueberries, cinnamon, steel and a lingering minty finish. Very good wine, will continue to develop over the next 5-7 years. Really an elegant zin.
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4/2/2021 - thesternowl wrote:
First experience with the 2019 vintage. Poured into a decanter roughly 8 hours prior to service. Initially deep purple color on the pour, it lightens up and becomes more ruby after the extended breathing. Bright bramble fruit, some pomegranate, some black pepper, medium-plus acid, medium tannin. Killer with lamb chops. Extremely youthful right now but quite enjoyable with patience. Like most vintages of Rafanelli’s Zinfandel, this will be better after 2-3 years of cellar time. This will be rocking after 2024+.
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3/26/2021 - Mike Dildine Likes this wine: 93 Points
14.8% abv. Dark ruby, very aromatic. Deep, intense, long, wild and spicy, this is great now and will develop into an exceptionally fine A Raf Zin over the next 3-8 years.
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