June 9, 2018 - Hezi's 65th Birthday Celebration (Chevalier Fine Wines - Chicago IL): Small glass, brief note. Wine's incredible ripeness and its maturity combine to make this flabby and tired.
December 25, 2016 - This wine is so powerful! Very strong aroma with high alcohol content. If you see this 1996 Zin Hayne Vineyard, just grab it and you'll be happy you bought. I would buy it again and again for the price I bought.
November 13, 2016 - Unreal!!!
Perfectly aged... Best wine in a long time!!
August 10, 2015 - Nose: licorice, raisin, liquid minerals.
Mouth: brambly; rich, great length; clearly high EtOH, but the flavors fully coextensive with the alcohol, conferring excellent balance and symmetry [cf 09 Hayne with EtOH much broader and expansive than the narrow flavor profile]; perfect and very structural acidity.
Zin tasting: all blind, all wines purchased on release with ideal storage; my ranking followed by group ranking in brackets:
Hayne '96 [2], Dickerson '94 [8], Jimsomare '94 [3], Jackass Vineyard '09 [6], Jackass Vineyard '96 [7], Hayne '09 [1], Jimsomare '12 [4], Dickerson '12 [5]
July 4, 2015 - On the tired side, but still good. There may have been a storage issue with this at some point pre-acquisition. Carmelized fruit, spice with a fruit undertone. The dark fruit is there but subtle and mild. This is nice and drinkable but nothing special.
June 7, 2013 - Pruney and alcoholic, unbalanced and tiring. Definitely not one for the long run...
January 19, 2013 - Wow, can't believe this is still holding together so well. Port like but still structured. Drink ASAP!
November 19, 2011 - Beautifully integrated sweetness, alcohol and acidity. Nice complexity, and a lingering finish. On the downward slope, but outstanding nevertheless.
May 9, 2011 - Was really looking forward to this bottle and it did not disappoint. Sight: murky, lots of fine sediment, dark red to brick red and copper around the edge, high concentration, high viscosity. Nose: Raisin/prune, melted chocolate, brown sugar, spice, musty. Palate: dominated by raisin/prune and plum, but definitely some complexity including brown sugar. Medium smooth tannins, medium plus alcohol (not too hot for 17%), medium plus acidity with a good finish, medium sweetness, incredibly well-balanced. Excellent wine. Drink now (or a year ago if you can!). My tasting partner (a sommelier) gave it a 96 and greatly appreciated the uniqueness.
April 20, 2011 - Lfe left in it but a bit too port like for me. WIne is on the downside in my opinion and did not hold its own. JFk liked as she usually does on older Zins. Very drinkable and maybe it was the 04 that we had with it that emphasized the earthy and port like qualities.