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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2010 and 2014 (based on 34 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 88.8 pts. and median of 89 pts. in 23 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by europat55 on 11/5/2014 & rated 89 points: Excellent Zin! (1853 views) | | | Tasted by Cantina Hill's on 7/12/2013 & rated 89 points: A great buy Zin, rich, berry med minus tannin, DARK FRUIT, fruit forward (2515 views) | | | Tasted by europat55 on 8/25/2012 & rated 89 points: Fruity, spicy. This seems to be getting better over the years. (2968 views) | | | Tasted by europat55 on 5/26/2011 & rated 87 points: Decent Zin... (3769 views) | | | Tasted by kstoddard on 2/10/2011 & rated 84 points: Paso Robles Tasting (AZ Wine Company): Black cherry, charred oak, and earth. Ripe finish. (4676 views) | | | Tasted by bcmatthias on 11/1/2010 & rated 87 points: Oaky, decent fruit. (2558 views) | | | Tasted by bcmatthias on 9/18/2010 & rated 89 points: Some spice, lots of jammy fruit. (2354 views) | | | Tasted by radavis3 on 7/5/2010 & rated 89 points: Not overly fruity like many lower priced Zins. Served with a nice spiced marinated pork loin chop, it was the perfect pair.
http://designshop.snooth.com/merchandising/images/gdpmagicalporktenderloin.pdf (2178 views) | | | Tasted by Bluedevil99 on 3/27/2010: Tasted blind. Nose of candied red fruit, huge cinnamon spice, vanilla, over the top oak. Strawberry jolly rancher on the attack followed up by gigantic, cloying American oak, gobs of vanilla with a hugely sappy finish. While obviously Cali zin ex-post, I had trouble pinpointing this as it was so sweet and oaky. I'm a huge fan of Cali zin (almost 2 cs of Turley in the cellar), but I hated this- it's one of those wines that reminds me this is the same grape they use to make white zin. Cloying to the point of near undrinkability. 78. (2498 views) | | | Tasted by louis1ma on 2/18/2010 & rated 88 points: A big jammy wine with a great nose and a surprisingly smooth approach as it is young and intense. Prunes, blackberries and boisenberries are the primary fruits. It really settles down about one half hour after opening. It is a really nice example of central coast zin with just enough white pepper and herbs to satisfy the true zin believer. Big wine from start to finiish. Went really well with grilled chicken and herbs. (2443 views) | | | Tasted by Caring_Bear on 12/12/2009 & rated 86 points: As a huge fan of the AP 2006 (I rated it a 90 and would have gone considerably higher based on the QPR alone)I initially bought 3 cases and ultimately bought 4 more from various sources. Sadly it is nearly all gone... and I eagerly awaited the latest vintage.
At the end of August I purchased a case of the 07. Since that time I have tried it alone, with food, and with a cellared bottle open over a period of 3 days. I have surveyed my friends in a side-by-side with the 2006. I have also more recently tried it side by side with 2006, over a period of 3 days (same bottles). I did this twice.
Why was I so thorough with this one? Well, I hoped my initial instincts were wrong, so waited awhile to try it again. I then read the first 2 CT reviews, which were rather glowing, and I felt like I must have missed something. And yet...
My conclusion: This is, at best, a shadow of what the 2006 was. 2007 lacks the jammy fruit, the creamy finish, and the overall killer integration of the previous year.
Dark fruit, a bit one dimensional, poorly integrated tannins and a lackluster finish.
From an (overly simple) generalization, I would make these comparisons:
2006 AP similar to 2006 Rafanelli (whoa, and I LOVE Rafanelli)
2007 AP similar to 2006 Cline Ancient Vines
The QPR is okay, but I won't be buying more, even with free shipping and a 20% club discount.
Disappointed, but looking forward to trying the '08.
BTW, not sure of how skinowdrinklater was tasting this, but all of my side-by-side comparisons were the exact opposite of his.... (3188 views) | | | Tasted by z_willus_d on 12/12/2009 & rated 89 points: ~30-min decant in med base @55F. COLOR- fine. NOSE- candied red-fruits peek-a-boo at first, then appearing in longer-terms as the glass warms -- here strawberry jam, there a center raspberry pop-tart; seems floral and I'd almost call it Pinot-like were it not for the "jammy" character. Really invites a drink. OhhHoo, this is tasty. Quite lush and open for business, this squirts all kinds of raspberry jam and sugared-strawberry topping along the oral-pathways. This is pure red-fruit heaven (not as much of the smokiness or dark fruit elements I recall from the '06). The mouthfeel is very smooth, and there's only a hint of tannin showing on the fore-teeth. Structure is slim, but acidity marks the path where I sense none of the high-alcohol heat one might expect from a young CA Zin. A layer of cream like a foamed latte coats the mouth as this goes down. The finish is straight and 1-dimensional but has good length -- just a little pepper here. This is not the most complex wine, and for that I'll doc it a point, but there's really nice fruit, flavor concentration and wine-making execution. This drinks like one of those heavy, expensive Pinots where they mix in the other stuff and you get something utterly delicious and drinkable but nothing like a true Pinot. I grabbed this bottle tonight after reading Caring_Bear's concerned expressions earlier. I'll probably score this a point less than I did the '06 for it's lack of structure and complexity, but I think I'm going to enjoy this two points more. It's just so easy to drink. Do so now and for the next three years, perhaps more. (3142 views) | | | Tasted by skinowdrinklater on 11/25/2009 & rated 92 points: Drinking well right now. Consumed alongside the '06 and the '07 was by far more fruit injected, whereas the '06 had some spice characteristics dominating. Was considered the fav. among the 2. (2857 views) | | | Tasted by will2wine on 10/14/2009 & rated 91 points: After the surprising brilliance of Ancient Peaks' '06 zin, I was anxious to try the '07, but also apprehensive. What a disappointment it would be if the new vintage proved the previous success to be a fluke. Certainly, the '05 was not in the same league. Then again, '07 was a stellar growing year, and folks at the winery assured me when I visited this past winter that quality would only rise.
My worries were unfounded. The '07 is deeper, darker and richer than the shimmering '06, but it doesn't lose the sense of proportion that made that wine one of my favorite zinfandels. Like its predecessor, it is driven by ripe raspberry fruit, with added dimensions of blue and black fruit, shaded by pepper and vanilla. The oak is unmissable, but it remains a complement to the fruit rather than vying for supremacy. While it's a bit hot on day one, and carries 15 percent alcohol, the size is justified by a long, deep, fruit-filled finish that eclipses that of the '06. This tasted better on the second day than the first, suggesting it could evolve with age.
The overall impression is of a serious, claret-like zinfandel that is also juicy and fun right out of the bottle. For $16 retail, this remains the best zinfandel bargain I have found -- even more so now that Seghesio has hiked its prices. Nice work, Ancient Peaks. (2933 views) |
| Ancient Peaks Producer websiteZinfandel ZAP: Zinfandel Advocates & Producers | Varietal character (Appellation America) | Wikipedia-ZinfandelUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Central Coasthttp://www.ccwinegrowers.org/links.html
http://www.discovercaliforniawines.com/regional-wine-organizations/
http://beveragetradenetwork.com/en/btn-academy/list-of-winegrowers-association-in-central-coast-california-274.htm
Central Coast AVA Wikipedia |
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