1999 Turley Zinfandel Hayne Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (29) Avg Score: 92.0 points

• Options

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

  10/4/2022 - forceberry wrote: 84 Points

  Made with old-vine fruit sourced from the Hayne Vineyard in St. Helena AVA, planted in 1902 and 1903. Fermented spontaneously, aged for 15 months in predominantly old French and American oak barrels. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. Ridiculous 16,8% alcohol. Tasted half-blind.
  
  Deep, moderately translucent and somewhat evolved dried-blood red color. The nose feels very sweet and noticeably ripe with a big hit of porty alcohol, followed by luscious aromas of dried dates and overripe strawberries, some boysenberry jam, a little bit of crème de cassis, light toasty oak tones, a hint of soft dark plums and a faint green touch of birch leaves. The wine feels huge, fat and quite robust on the palate with a very full body and dry-ish to off-dry flavors of boysenberries, some wizened dark plums, a little bit of alcohol heat, light raisiny tones, a hint of strawberry jam and a touch of peppery spice. The structure relies almost solely on the tough and quite grippy tannins, as the modest, low-ish acidity feels completely inadequate to stand up against the huge body of the wine. The finish is hot, long and grippy with robust yet noticeably sweet-toned, off-dry flavors of strawberries, some boysenberry jam, a little bit of plummy fruit, light peppery tones, a hint of dried dates and a touch of raisins.
  
  Ugh. This was a completely over-the-top wine in our tasting of 1999 Turley and Rosenblum Zinfandels - and not in a good way. The wine feels like it is made with grapes that have already partially shriveled on the vine and the sweetness of the fruit feels more than what could be attributed to excessive ripeness and high alcohol - I can't say for sure, but it does really feel like the wine has fermented to 16,8% but then the fermentation has come to a halt, resulting in a little bit of residual sugar in the wine. At least the lush texture, soft mouthfeel and jammy edge of the fruit really points in that direction. Many thought the wine was impressive with its big size and opulent, in-your-face fruit, but I found the wine nigh undrinkable with its overbearing sweetness and obfuscating, boozy alcohol. Unlike the other Turleys we had - many of which were very harmonious and delicious - this feels like a stereotypical Napa Zin. An anti-AFWE wine, if there ever was one.

  2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

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

  12/13/2021 - SophieR Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Part one of a personal 1999 Hayne weekend festival. The Zinfandel came first, later the Petite Syrah. Astonishing, and not at all as expected. No decanting, no waiting required. Perfume of plums and red raspberries immediately met the nose, rather like Baryshnikov leaping from a bottle. Dark, as expected, but smooth, soft, the texture quite fine, more in common with a pinot noir than an everyday zin. Absolutely incomparable. Marginally better after two hours, but no additional notes, because too soon it was gone. Surely the most magnificent 22-year old zinfandel ever produced. .

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

• Options

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

  11/28/2021 - andolini Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Decanted, left to open up for 1-2 hours before drinking. Dark purple, rich, raspberry, dark red fruits on the nose. I half feared that this was going to be over the hill and a hot mess, but alcohol wasn't noticeable, nor was it a huge fruit bomb. Raspberry, slight pepper, classic zin, some rich/creamy thickness with a smooth finish. If there is any criticism, it lacked some complexity at this stage, but I enjoyed it.

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

• Options

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

  5/22/2020 - Hanibal Likes this wine: 92 Points

  This was surprisingly good. Still very much alive and not anywhere on its down-slop yet. So many layers, went perfect with BBQ

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

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View zinful13's profile
  • Report Issue

  5/8/2020 - zinful13 Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Still amazing - dark sweet fruit, high alcohol not evident on palate, very smooth even tannins after 21 years. No brick at all, great dark purple color.

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

View all 29 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.