2005 Chase Zinfandel Hayne Vineyard

Garagiste

• By Jon Rimmerman
  6/23/2009, (See more on Garagiste...)

  (HAYNE Chase Zinfandel) Hayne Dear Friends, How about something completely out of character for us? How about Hayne Vineyard Zinfandel? You asked for it, so here it is... Maybe this was a challenge from some of you to see if I could source California wine but it appears that a segment on our email list tried this wine a few weeks ago and (for lack of a better term) freaked out. I received a humorous trail of email requests in prose (I will reprint them on the Forum board if the original writer will allow) asking (actually demanding) that I find the 2005 Chase "Hayne" for our customer base. It took a few weeks but here you go... The famous Turley Hayne Vineyard Zinfandel is, in some way, responsible for an entire cult industry. It spurred thousands of consumers and would-be vintners to action in the 1990s and created a new price-point for Zinfandel that surpassed $50/bottle. Martinelli followed suit and so on. The interesting thing about Turley's Hayne is that they never owned the vineyard. That designation belongs to Chase and, in relative obscurity, they make their own wine from the very best parcel of the Hayne vineyard. A very small winery (1500-2000 cases in total), Chase produces a more civilized (but still massive) Hayne Zinfandel from their best plots in each vintage - the rest goes to Turley (and a few others). This wine is from 100+ year old vines (with a small amount of 25-50 year old vines) and it is the definition of Napa Valley Zinfandel. It is from some of the finest stock in the Valley and the 2005 is the coming out party for Chase. Brambly old-vine fruit with bittersweet ripe cherry and very broad depth across the palate, this is not just alcohol as an excuse for wine. Chase believes this is the definitive vintage for Hayne fruit and they should know. If you like the really big show compacted into a bottle (waiting to be uncorked), this is your wine. In addition, if you are a fan of Turley Hayne Zinfandel, I urge you to give this more reasonably priced example a very close look. I also urge you to look up TN's on this wine as it appears to have wide-spread appeal. ONE SHIPMENT ONLY with perfect provenance: 2005 Chase "Hayne Vineyard" Zinfandel (Napa Valley) Thank you, Jon Rimmerman Garagiste Seattle, WA CA6390

Wine Library TV

• By Gary Vaynerchuk
  Woot Wine on the Thunder Show, Episode #501, 7/15/2008, (See more on Wine Library TV...) 87 points

  (Hayne Zinfandel) #2; COLOR-dark; NOSE-really fruit driven; a fruit explosion; skittles; fruit roll-up; Twizzlers; a little cinnamon; TASTE-very fruit forward; a big bomb of a wine; a little heat; tastes Syrah-like to me; good body and intensity; nice black pepper upfront; nice sour small blueberry; dusty, chalky chocolate on the back-end (like old shaved chocolate that gets white on the edges); solid at the Woot "special price" of $26, but not a great value at the standard $45 price; GV-87