1987 De Loach Zinfandel Russian River Valley

Community Tasting Notes (3) Median Score: 90 points

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  7/14/2023 - sid_loves_wine Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Holy shit, what a nice surprise. The first of 3 wines from the late 80's we tasted for a little birth-year wine hangout, and the one I was least sure would be good- and it was by far the best. Not only that, it was damned excellent.
  
  Very raw, powerful winemaking here- smelled so much like a great Rioja, with intense, alluring American oak (cedar chest, shoe polish, leather, dry leaves, some fading vanilla bean) and somehow still-alive fruit, something maybe closest to raspberry preserves. Nothing raisiny, oxidized, "old" at all. The tannins were still around although very relaxed, and the acidity was present too. After a while it began to fade a bit and I could argue the oak was more present than the fruit, but still, a wonderful and eye-opening experience. It's hard for me to "rate" this, but I was seriously happy for the price I paid ($25 on winebid, wow.) So I'll give it a nice high score. Your mileage may vary!

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  5/9/2023 - Doc90 wrote: 90 Points

  Old nose of strawberries and smoke. Excellent tartness, pretty tasty. Not dead, but should be consumed now.

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  1/21/2012 - Ben K. wrote: 81 Points

  Wine really starting to go bad.

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