December 26, 2020 - After reading@richsquare's review I wanted to order out for pizza! I could only wish there was a pizza joint that could make the meal he described.
Anyway, our bottle was great! The plastic cork was in perfect condition (go figure, huh) and the wine was fresh and lively. No one guessed 15 years! Why don't more wineries use plastic corks (except for all of Portugal and Spain and a lot of wine snobs)?! Some mature notes but the brambleberry and spice were still up front and center. Smooth with enough mature acids and tannins to keep it focused and moving along. Heavy sediment. Long finish. Bottle didn't make it through the meal.
August 3, 2018 - Needs decanted, or use a Venturi and lots of swirling...time to open. First opened, fruit, anise and funk aroma. Let it open fruit and lots of licorice in the aroma. Taste...fruit forward, anise, dry, and darn good.
Drank it with a homemade French bread pizza...sun dried tomato pesto, fresh home grown basil, pepperoni, bacon bits, yellow pepper, banana pepper, mozzarella. Went well together.
Celebrated a raise. great selection from our chiller. Cheers!
September 18, 2015 - Wonderful mature fruit - this one is starting to peak, drink up!
May 15, 2015 - Amazing dark color, vibrant black cherries with notes of seductive dark chocolate.
September 23, 2014 - Slightly heavy
May 25, 2013 - Very Heavy sediment thrown.
December 15, 2012 - What a nice surprise. Outstanding.
June 24, 2012 - Always a winner, and worth some ageing. Clear, deep ruby, showing garnet on the rim. Many thick legs. The nose is clean, with medium plus intensity. Wonderful aromas of baked black cherry cobbler, blueberry jam, Christmas spice, espresso and dark chocolate. The palate is dry, with flavors consistent with the nose. Most prevalent is black cherry liqueur, or Kirsch. The acidity is medium to medium plus, as are the tannins. The alcohol is medium plus at 14.8%. The body is medium plus, with a rich and velvety mouthfeel. The flavor intensity and finish are both medium plus. This is not a very structured wine, but it is balanced and eminently drinkeable despite its richness. It paired really well with spicyness of a Cajun-rubbed rib-eye steak, which really brought out the ripe black and blue fruit. Drink within the next year; it is not likely to improve further.
May 29, 2012 - Drink em if you've got them, this is a wine/style that rewards enjoyment over cellaring in my opinion
April 22, 2012 - Always a favourite, this Zin shows again what can be done with this varietal at the top levels. The great focus on sweet dark fruit on the nose evolves with serious weight on the palate and while some tell-tale jamminess is present, it does not detract from the overall presentation – excellent.