July 3, 2012 - Seems to be aging well. nice structure and aroma.
April 8, 2012 - A very Sonoma Zin, bold yet restrained, strong but not imposing, this is great work from a winemaker with a good sense of the nuances of Zins. After 4 hours decanting, aromas of dark fruit, cigar and pepper wafted up and continued onto the palate.
February 24, 2012 - A big, aggressive wine. I suppose I should have known as much given that it's a zin, but I was hoping it had calmed down a bit 6 yrs after bottling. Opened and got a quick sip, very wound up and tannic, with a distinct bitter finish. The fruit was there, but overwhelmed by tannins.
2.5 hrs in with grilled ribeyes, everything started coming together. More fruit and still a lot of structure, but definitely enjoyable. I haven't had a lot of zins recently, so no real benchmark to compare to.
5 hrs after decanting and there's still structure left. This bottle can go for a while longer. Sad I don't have another to see how it fleshes out another 5 yrs down the road.
November 12, 2011 - VG zin with loads of blackberry & a bit of spice on the finish
October 9, 2011 - Popped & poured - drank over 2 nights; VG zin with loads of blackberry & a bit of spice on the finish; tannins mellowed even more on day 2
May 6, 2011 - Amazing wine! This needed about 3 hours to really get going. Nice blackberry, cigar box, spice and minerality on the nose. Amazingly lush mouthfeel. Perfect balance of fruit, tannins, and alcohol. Blackberry with spicy finish. Top 5 zin I've ever had.
February 18, 2011 - This is a very decadent Zin from Valdez. Like Macauley, this is a Cab/Syrah drinker's Zin. Very rich complex nose, thick midpalate with peppery blueberry & vanilla on the finish. Excellent!
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Consumed at at cellar temp: 60°-65° F. Friends don't let friends drink red wine at room temp!
January 9, 2011 - Rockpile is hallowed ground!
June 5, 2010 - Nice wine and decent balance. A little hot but OK with rich food.
April 23, 2010 - 30 minutes after opening, this wine really showed it's stuff