Was impressed with this one in its youth and thought it may have aging potential. This has lot the freshness of its youth but hasn't acquired any particularly interesting secondary flavors, so it doesn't appear to be aging well (I also noticed that it has been filtered - no sediment - which probably didn't help). It's still very drinkable though and was a hit with the others I served it to. It had a pleasant nose of blackcurrant jam and chicory with no high notes. Mouth of prunes with a touch of bitterness. Coffee and charcoal with some plums on a long finish of 90 seconds.
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Always a favorite - reasonably priced full bodied red - good with red meats. The wine looks Ruby colored. The legs are Medium. The body is Medium/Full. The wine has Smooth texture. The wine finishes Medium.
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Yet more confirmation that Ravenswood Old Vine Zin can handle a little age. A meaty nose with concentrated fruit and oak behind, a little unbalanced at first but mellowed with breathing. Good, firm texture with extremely fine grain tannins on the mid-palate to finish, which warms on the way down. Dark fruit (plum) and some oak with balanced acidity, a well integrated wine. 88-89pts.
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Spiced black cherries, a bit flabby missing a mid palate that finishes in a reminder of cherry Garcia ice cream by ben and jerry's. Light to medium bodied that would go well with food. Drink now.
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Fabulous Zin, all the great qualities and not over the top from an alcohol perspective - Dark, well concentrated with a nose of blackberries, plum, spice and vanilla, excellent balance and complexity, sweet and sour on the palate, spicey on the finish with great length, very tasty! (91 Points).
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Dark ruby-garnet. Licorice, sweet cherries, plums, vanilla and coffee on the fairly complex nose. Mid-full bodied with firm but good quality tanins, rich fruit, moderate acidity and a long, chocolatey finish.
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Very faint nose perhaps of imitation strawberry flavour essence. Big mouth of blackberry jam and cherry with good balance. Long finish of dark berries. Took about an hour to open up (apart from nose) and was going well after 4 hrs.
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hearty fruity nose with hint of pepper, taste more berryfruit with some vanilla and spice as it lingers...heavy alcohol but nonethless nice at the price
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Pretty damn good I say. A little monolithic in the nose, heavy berry and not much more. Maybe a little vanilla. Just the right level of tannin though. No big pucker, just right with good acidity to balance. Good finish too.
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Consistent with previous bottle. A rather simple little purple number with good juicy fruit totally overwhelmed by more heat than Colonel Lawrence's greenhouse. It's not a bad QPR and is pretty tasty but the alcohol dominates and is way OTT. Fair/good?
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HOT! This stuff has a lot of heat on it. Should probably sit for 2-3 years but I wanted to open something to go with the BBQ lamb tonight and thought this would do the trick. Given the price (around $23) I'd say that Cline's run-o-the-mill Zin is a better value at less than $15.
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Very nice Zin, very BBQ and food friendly, not sure if this is going to develop much in any way, but I've put a couple away to see - Dark red, medium bodied wth a nose of cherry, cranberry, plum, light rasin, spice and vanilla, decent structure, smooth and sweet on the finish with good length (88 Points).
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Takes a little time to open up, but when it does it's fantastic. Hides the alcohol well-- this isn't an overly fruity and cloying zin. A pretty ridiculous value.
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odd woman out on this, it looks like. Classic Zin, in my opinion. Sour cherry and blueberry aromas, with a peppery note. Nice plum and blueberry flavors with a silky texture. Spicy aftertaste of clove, pepper, and allspice. Excellent QPR.
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Short (30 min) decant - Light ruby colour, masses of alcohol dominates OTN with some shy plum fruit and a whiff of leather - volatile. More plum and alcohol on the attack but struggling to find much more. Teeth-coating. A fleeting impression of something "herby"? Fairly clipped finish. Not unpleasant but lacking complexity and finnesse. Maybe this will open up a bit with time in the jug? Would be an untaxing but decent glugger to slosh down with burgers on a bar-b-q maybe
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Opened up after an hour and a half of decanting. Enticing nose of figs and weathered vinyl car seats. Mouth of a giant juicy plum with cloves and freshly mown grass. Delicately grainy-textured finish of rhubarb coffee that is relatively short. Its dissimilarity from any other variety I have tasted makes me understand why Zinfandel has such a big name in California. Long live Zinfandel!
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A ruby red color, but light for a Zinfandel. Jammy aromas of plums with overwhelming heat. Jammy flavors of dark berries and plums. The alcohol in this wine often overwhelmed the rest of the flavors. Not as fruit forward as many Zins. It opened up with a little time and got considerably better paired with the spicy Mexican food I was eating. The spicy food brought out more fruit flavors and cut the heat.
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Blueberry dominates. We had it with pizza and it was too overpowering. I think this might be ok on its own, after dinner. But with food, it may be too fruity and robust.
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10/29/2012 - tenorselbow wrote: 86 Points
Was impressed with this one in its youth and thought it may have aging potential. This has lot the freshness of its youth but hasn't acquired any particularly interesting secondary flavors, so it doesn't appear to be aging well (I also noticed that it has been filtered - no sediment - which probably didn't help). It's still very drinkable though and was a hit with the others I served it to. It had a pleasant nose of blackcurrant jam and chicory with no high notes. Mouth of prunes with a touch of bitterness. Coffee and charcoal with some plums on a long finish of 90 seconds.
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3/22/2012 - virginia-bob Likes this wine: 90 Points
Always a favorite - reasonably priced full bodied red - good with red meats. The wine looks Ruby colored. The legs are Medium. The body is Medium/Full. The wine has Smooth texture. The wine finishes Medium.
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1/21/2012 - wineaboutit wrote: 89 Points
CT taster Greybeard nailed this one, in his notes. Spot on review, and very good zin, in spite of what the other crackheads had to say.
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12/11/2011 - Greybeard Likes this wine: 89 Points
Yet more confirmation that Ravenswood Old Vine Zin can handle a little age. A meaty nose with concentrated fruit and oak behind, a little unbalanced at first but mellowed with breathing. Good, firm texture with extremely fine grain tannins on the mid-palate to finish, which warms on the way down. Dark fruit (plum) and some oak with balanced acidity, a well integrated wine. 88-89pts.
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10/16/2010 - wineguy58 wrote: 87 Points
Spiced black cherries, a bit flabby missing a mid palate that finishes in a reminder of cherry Garcia ice cream by ben and jerry's. Light to medium bodied that would go well with food. Drink now.
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8/22/2010 - Tarrant wrote: 91 Points
Fabulous Zin, all the great qualities and not over the top from an alcohol perspective - Dark, well concentrated with a nose of blackberries, plum, spice and vanilla, excellent balance and complexity, sweet and sour on the palate, spicey on the finish with great length, very tasty! (91 Points).
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7/9/2010 - LVRowland wrote:
Actually Lodi Wine
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4/5/2010 - johnnyrichardson wrote: 82 Points
Typical lower-priced Zin - hot, jammy, too much alcohol and a really funky nose...
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2/19/2010 - Yiannis wrote: 89 Points
Dark ruby-garnet. Licorice, sweet cherries, plums, vanilla and coffee on the fairly complex nose. Mid-full bodied with firm but good quality tanins, rich fruit, moderate acidity and a long, chocolatey finish.
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2/10/2010 - stevenjstein wrote: 91 Points
Good concentration without being jammy. Dark cherry and berry notes, with some spice. Great value for the money.
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1/8/2010 - tenorselbow wrote: 86 Points
Very faint nose perhaps of imitation strawberry flavour essence. Big mouth of blackberry jam and cherry with good balance. Long finish of dark berries. Took about an hour to open up (apart from nose) and was going well after 4 hrs.
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12/29/2009 - rfcarney wrote: 89 Points
hearty fruity nose with hint of pepper, taste more berryfruit with some vanilla and spice as it lingers...heavy alcohol but nonethless nice at the price
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12/5/2009 - Xahrx wrote: 80 Points
Pretty damn good I say. A little monolithic in the nose, heavy berry and not much more. Maybe a little vanilla. Just the right level of tannin though. No big pucker, just right with good acidity to balance. Good finish too.
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11/27/2009 - whitealleycat wrote: 91 Points
Very nice wine. Enjoyed with roast beef.
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8/11/2009 - Khamen wrote: 84 Points
Consistent with previous bottle. A rather simple little purple number with good juicy fruit totally overwhelmed by more heat than Colonel Lawrence's greenhouse. It's not a bad QPR and is pretty tasty but the alcohol dominates and is way OTT. Fair/good?
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8/1/2009 - spish wrote: 86 Points
HOT! This stuff has a lot of heat on it. Should probably sit for 2-3 years but I wanted to open something to go with the BBQ lamb tonight and thought this would do the trick. Given the price (around $23) I'd say that Cline's run-o-the-mill Zin is a better value at less than $15.
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7/31/2009 - Tarrant wrote: 88 Points
Very nice Zin, very BBQ and food friendly, not sure if this is going to develop much in any way, but I've put a couple away to see - Dark red, medium bodied wth a nose of cherry, cranberry, plum, light rasin, spice and vanilla, decent structure, smooth and sweet on the finish with good length (88 Points).
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6/26/2009 - mreinitz wrote: 89 Points
Consistent with my prior note.
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6/25/2009 - cjsadler wrote: 90 Points
Takes a little time to open up, but when it does it's fantastic. Hides the alcohol well-- this isn't an overly fruity and cloying zin. A pretty ridiculous value.
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5/18/2009 - drdebs wrote: 90 Points
odd woman out on this, it looks like. Classic Zin, in my opinion. Sour cherry and blueberry aromas, with a peppery note. Nice plum and blueberry flavors with a silky texture. Spicy aftertaste of clove, pepper, and allspice. Excellent QPR.
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4/24/2009 - Khamen wrote: 82 Points
Short (30 min) decant - Light ruby colour, masses of alcohol dominates OTN with some shy plum fruit and a whiff of leather - volatile. More plum and alcohol on the attack but struggling to find much more. Teeth-coating. A fleeting impression of something "herby"? Fairly clipped finish. Not unpleasant but lacking complexity and finnesse. Maybe this will open up a bit with time in the jug? Would be an untaxing but decent glugger to slosh down with burgers on a bar-b-q maybe
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4/21/2009 - mreinitz wrote: 88 Points
Better than I expected. Plum and other dark fruits. Typical Ravenswood reserved style. I didn't find this to be particularly hot.
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4/13/2009 - tenorselbow wrote: 90 Points
Opened up after an hour and a half of decanting. Enticing nose of figs and weathered vinyl car seats. Mouth of a giant juicy plum with cloves and freshly mown grass. Delicately grainy-textured finish of rhubarb coffee that is relatively short. Its dissimilarity from any other variety I have tasted makes me understand why Zinfandel has such a big name in California. Long live Zinfandel!
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2/20/2009 - VanVino wrote: 81 Points
A ruby red color, but light for a Zinfandel. Jammy aromas of plums with overwhelming heat. Jammy flavors of dark berries and plums. The alcohol in this wine often overwhelmed the rest of the flavors. Not as fruit forward as many Zins. It opened up with a little time and got considerably better paired with the spicy Mexican food I was eating. The spicy food brought out more fruit flavors and cut the heat.
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1/23/2009 - jmoskow wrote: 85 Points
Blueberry dominates. We had it with pizza and it was too overpowering. I think this might be ok on its own, after dinner. But with food, it may be too fruity and robust.
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1/22/2009 - brl75 wrote:
A typical Zin...tasty if not exceptional. A decent value from Costco.
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1/17/2009 - appleforest wrote: 86 Points
Very fruity aroma, less fruity taste. Somewhat tannic but ready.
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1/16/2009 - ronpoz wrote: 85 Points
Quite thin and lacking substance
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1/2/2009 - JuliannaD wrote: 78 Points
Disappointing, very little flavor.
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11/13/2008 - jjmabaseb wrote: 87 Points
Light in color for a Zin.; a bit of heat on the nose, berries and pepper; light bodied, spicy, soft tannins, nice fruit, a bit of cocoa, decent finish
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10/7/2008 - MattiH wrote: 85 Points
Juicy, great value.
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9/26/2008 - themust wrote: 86 Points
A bit too fruity for me, but a pretty nice bottle for the money.
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8/24/2008 - Always4wine wrote: 87 Points
Opened up with time. Better mouthfeel and finish than the Napa Ravenswwod. I would decant a bit next time. Dark fruit and some black pepper.
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