| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.1 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 84 notes) - hiding notes with no text |
| | Tasted by jamokebob on 3/23/2024 & rated 91 points: Perfect with lamb rib chops. (745 views) |
| | Tasted by MaVino13 on 1/3/2024 & rated 93 points: Wine Rating Methodology
96-100: One of the most enjoyable wines I have ever tasted. I would not hesitate to open this wine for any Master of Wine.
91-95: Extremely enjoyable wine that I would drink and buy again. Fantastic to open up for those who appreciate wine.
85-90: Decent to good wine. Weekday bottle you don’t feel guilty about not finishing.
Below 85: would not drink or buy again.
***Price of wine vs. enjoyment (value) is taken into consideration
***I do not provide tasting notes as everyone’s palate is different, and will have a different experience. (1479 views) |
| | Tasted by thesternowl on 12/2/2023 & rated 92 points: Popped and poured; enjoyed over a 24-hour period with very little evolution. No formal notes. Enjoyed alongside the 2015. Tonight, the 2019 showed brighter and almost exercised some restraint. Definitely still showing signs of its youth and a more proportional mix of red and black bramble fruit when compared to the 2015 which was more black in profile. Balanced and endowed with great structure; acid showing particularly well. Better after 2025 but I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see myself enjoying this late into the 2030’s. (1846 views) |
| | Tasted by tedcholl on 10/6/2023 & rated 92 points: Been drinking a bottle of this every 8 months or so. Part of a wine club shipment. Keep improving. Has that nice Zin bramble without being too jammy. blackberry cherry licorice tobacco chocolate . Very enjoyable Zin. (1826 views) |
| | Tasted by tedcholl on 8/3/2023 & rated 92 points: Wine club purchase. A tasty Zin. Cherry, raspberry. blackberry, spices. (2013 views) |
| | Tasted by DannyM on 6/3/2023: Enjoyed with Llanos, always fantastic! (2081 views) |
| | Tasted by wineismylife on 5/25/2023 & rated 92 points: WIML92
Tasted non blind.
Dark garnet color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of flowers, boysenberries, plums and cherries. Flavors of raspberries, boysenberries and cherries. Tangy acidity, medium to firm tannin, full bodied. Drink or hold. (2028 views) |
| | Tasted by Brain Capers on 4/25/2023: First bottle of the 2019. Drinking vey well, rich sweet CA (dry creek) Zinfandel. Went perfectly with eggplant Rollatini, from the Tartine book. Yum! (1672 views) |
| | Tasted by jon.siracusa on 4/6/2023 & rated 94 points: Try to find a better Sonoma Zinfandel. I’ll wait. (1732 views) |
| | Tasted by tedcholl on 3/14/2023 & rated 92 points: The second of 6 bottles I purchased from their wine club. Always an excellent Zinfandel. Cherry, blackberry, black pepper. Enjoyable. (1912 views) |
| | Tasted by tedcholl on 2/8/2023: Had my first vintage of this 8 months ago and it has improved from 91 to 92. Ridge and A. Rafanelli are my favorite Zin producers. blackberry cherry pepper bramble cinnamon (1846 views) |
| | Tasted by PVJC on 1/28/2023 & rated 93 points: Drank side by side with a 2019 Carlisle Vineyard Carlisle, both very good, divided vote in the end on the winner. I preferred the Carlisle but it was close. The Raf by comparison came across jammier and more extracted, and I would have guessed 1-2% higher in alcohol although only a 0.2% difference. (1882 views) |
| | Tasted by WineDoctors on 1/8/2023 & rated 94 points: Ridiculously delicious like I have never tasted this eine before. Bright jam supple full bodied plum and blackberry With welcome home lasagna (1829 views) |
| | Tasted by pballwzrd on 11/4/2022: nice balance (2122 views) |
| | Tasted by pgb67 on 11/1/2022 & rated 94 points: Summer and Fall 2022 Wine Adventures (Corolla, NC & Three Rivers, MI & Dogwood Grove, VA): A fruit bomb in the best sense of the phrase, but at the same time shows some old world elegance. Explosive initial flavors of black cherry are balanced out by sophisticated notes of mocha and sage. Enjoyable to drink. (2069 views) |
| | Tasted by Montesquieu on 10/20/2022 & rated 90 points: Smooth and refined relative to so many extracted, alcoholic zins. Relatively simple and pleasant, which makes it better rounded for a variety of food pairings and moods. (1731 views) |
| | Tasted by thh18731 on 7/23/2022 & rated 94 points: This is a delicious Zin! The nose is rich with fruit and the body is full without being jammy. The acid balances out the fruit just right. The finish is long and smooth! (2204 views) |
| | Tasted by PVJC on 7/17/2022 & rated 92 points: Opened & poured 2 glasses 30 min. before drinking. Unlike last bottle, no initial oakiness at all, either blew off quickly or was never there. And great as usual. (1885 views) |
| | Tasted by PVJC on 6/26/2022 & rated 92 points: Too oaky at first, not uncommon for these when still relatively young. Better day 2. Ideally need to give these a decant or hold longer. Score = day 2. (1793 views) |
| | Tasted by tomlee on 6/11/2022 & rated 93 points: Purple in color. 14.8% ABV. Awesome nose of black fruits, licorice and pepper. Medium to full bodied with mouth watering acidity. Black cherry, black raspberry, earth and pepper on the palate. Tremendous length on the finish with subtle, dusty tannins. About as good as Zinfandel gets from the Dry Creek Valley. Best over the next 4-6 years. (1906 views) |
| | Tasted by WineDoctors on 6/4/2022 & rated 92 points: This is such a refined version of this wine. Likely adaptive to this season. The cork is lightly stained. technique is different and revered. (1769 views) |
| | Tasted by tedcholl on 5/25/2022 & rated 91 points: Recent club shipment and decided to try the 2019 vintage. Bottle 1 of 6 and drinks young, needing more time to open up, integrate, and gain complexity. Blackberry, pepper, bramble, baking spice. (1591 views) |
| | Tasted by cpdwines on 4/12/2022 & rated 90 points: Very young wine... (1985 views) |
| | Tasted by Mike Dildine on 2/19/2022 & rated 94 points: Outstanding DCV Zin. (2920 views) |
| | Tasted by daosailor on 2/14/2022 & rated 90 points: Wonderful nose of blueberries which then translates into the first sip. Medium body, not overly extracted or sweet. Decanted for a few hours before drinking. Friends thought it was a southern Rhone and when it was revealed a Rafanelli zin everyone went back and retested. This is good but like others I think it needs time in the cellar. Will wait another year before opening another bottle. (2449 views) |
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