2009 Cline Cellars Zinfandel Ancient Vines

Community Tasting Notes (50) Avg Score: 86.6 points

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View BcDuncan's profile
  • Report Issue

  10/3/2018 - BcDuncan Likes this wine: 88 Points

  I kept it a bit long, but stored well and was still very good, long flavour with good fruit. Surprisingly it was still good.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View gfb1's profile
  • Report Issue

  4/8/2016 - gfb1 Likes this wine: 88 Points

  Solid Zin subtly at the back end of its life cycle. Good legs. Red brick color, tobacco and tar mixed with ripe Athena melon and a hint of lemon. Slight bitterness.
  
  Yes, it is showing advanced age. Yet, it could be the poster child for satisfaction that the golden years can represent.
  
  Drink up my friends and enjoy!

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View oakville72's profile
  • Report Issue

  1/14/2016 - oakville72 wrote: 86 Points

  I purchased this wine today at a local liquor store to find out how well it was faring at 6 years old. The answer: not bad, but it should be consumed soon. I know that Zins can be great wines with longevity, but not in the way they are made today.
  
  One of the most memorable wises I ever tasted was the 1935 Simi Zinfandel, which had been kept in a large redwood tank till it was bottled in the early 1970s. (Note: There are various versions of this story.) This wine was made in the claret style — that is, low (13.5% or less) alcohol with an emphasis on higher acidity and more lengthy skin contact during fermentation. It was beautiful.
  
  Today's Zinfandel style emphasizes high brix and high alcohols. When you pick zin late you can get a lot of raisining, and because the grapes are not as culled as well as cabernet, those raisined grapes get thru to the fermenter. Plus, acidity falls with hangtime.
  
  Anyway, this 15% alcohol wine would have been much better if the grapes had been picked earlier. But it's still OK nonetheless. Enjoy with pizza, pork roast and any dish that has a lot of tomatoes.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View mystycreek's profile
  • Report Issue

  6/4/2014 - mystycreek wrote: 86 Points

  Light purple-red color. Strawberry, pepper, smoke, mushroom on the nose. Chocolate, earth, red fruits on the palate. A touch of dust and oak in the end. Well, I was disappointed about this because I prefer concentrated and thick Zinfandel. This wine is like making Pinot instead of Zinfandel, only about 35% of new oak and 8 months in the barrel? Come on!!! And this is made of 80-100 years old vines, I think it's a waste. I might be biased and way too serious, this wine is made for BBQ and food, which shows on the package, but this could have been a much better stuff......

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View wtianseter's profile
  • Report Issue

  5/18/2014 - wtianseter wrote: 88 Points

  The wine is showing a lot of red berry fruit and has a sweet edge and some brambly character. It is showing just a bit if excess acidity on thee tongue that should go away in a year or two in bottle. The finish was slightly tart and a touch of light tannin. Give it some more time in bottle to develop more.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

View all 50 Community Tasting Notes

Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.