R&D's
Tasted Sunday, July 17, 2016 by AllRed with 463 views
The annual zin tasting was rescheduled from it's usual Memorial Day weekend date to a date that Domino and I could not make, but we were invited over for leftovers the next day.
A few years ago the tasting was scaled down from a ten year to a five year retrospective. This was due to the sheer quantity of Zinfandel that must be purchased in order to have an eight bottle horizontal at the ten year mark. That said, there are always a couple of ten year olds opened to transition from the whites to the double blind flight of eight five year olds.
Tasted blind - we know these are Zins, yes, but not the producers so it is not a true single blind format, nor is it double since we know the variety and vintage. Anyway, this is always a fun tasting and I was very happy to be able to taste these the next day, having missed the event the night before. I tend to like Zin in cooler vintages and this proved to be no exception. The fruit was very nice and there were very few that were too ripe. The group's first place wine last night was the Rombauer.
We enjoyed R&D's leftover brisket with some of the wines the other attendees brought for dinner. We supplied a few mini tartlets to accompany the CSJ we brought along (one always has to end the night on a sweet note).
2006 Ridge Geyserville 89 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County
Floral overtones give way to ripe dark fruit; prune. Flavors of red brambly fruit and spices and pepper.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2006 Robert Biale Zinfandel Old Kraft Vineyard 91 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena
I preferred this to the Geyserville between the ten year olds (which served as last night's warm up reds). Cherry, raspberry and bramble notes. Cherry, pepper and lush, ripe Zin fruit with a good finish. I thought the Ridge was a bit too ripe and rustic, whereas this just had really fresh and luscious red fruit.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue