2011 Lamborn Family Vineyards Zinfandel "The Pupil Vintage"

Community Tasting Notes (15) Avg Score: 91.8 points

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  6/22/2022 - winespine Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Wow, what a pleasure this was. This was an interesting wine for us. We bought it at the estate with Mike and Terry Lamborn - lovely people - in 2014. I'd read a less than flattering review on it, but when we tasted it we all loved it. I talked about that review with them, and they didn't quite get it, nor did Heidi Barrett, their winemaker. It's just a guess, but there might be 2 factors at work: 1. the alcohol is pretty high 2. 2011 was maligned in Napa as it was comparatively cool and rainy. But, Lamborn is near the top of Howell Mountain and misses a lot of the weather and fog that impact the valley floor. Regardless, we felt it was stitching together then and would do well with some cellaring. 8 years later, we were correct. It was the last bottle of the evening and I didn't plan on opening it, but we were with the friends we bought it with, so why not? I gave it a quick decant and it drank beautifully.

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  11/30/2019 - knorthrip Likes this wine: 92 Points

  The slight menthol note really adds some nice lift and elegance to the more typical blackberry, vanilla, and earthy notes.

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  11/4/2019 - WineWright wrote:

  Not sure if these two were off, but we found them too pungent to drink.

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  9/14/2019 - knorthrip Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Still very pretty.

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  1/29/2019 - ChrisWagner Likes this wine: 90 Points

  This was not as enjoyable as other vintages. It had an herbal quality in the place of where fruit might be. It could be due to vintage or age, I'm not sure.
  
  This is was definitely enjoyable but I would certainly choose '12, '13', or '14 over this right now.

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