2001 Renwood Old Vine Zinfandel

Community Tasting Notes (11) Avg Score: 88 points

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  11/22/2021 - Missus T Likes this wine:

  This bottle was corked, with significant leakage all the way through.
  So I got the typical fizzy thing going, wine sweetening a fraction, though not at all vinegar. Like torture, considering the palate elements, the color was still gorgeous. I am super intrigued by the chemistry of wine, and I went ahead and had two glasses simply because it was not salad dressing yet and if I ignored the carbonation, the flavor was quite nice, the way an aged Zin can be. I would have to give this unfortunately irretrievable bottle an 86 for the experience tonight, but I would bet that within five years ago, if I'd caught this bottle (my only one) prior to spoilage, I'd have had an amazing tasting experience at something well above 90. 2001 has been acknowledged as a great year for California Zinfandels. I wish I'd hauled this bottle out before tonight. I would imagine it peaked as a very jammy beverage with silky tannins. But here it was, this evening, in reality: Not a terribly pleasant nose of wet leaf/raspberries crushed on old compost. Taste: Red berries, ash; and such a prolonged finish of watermelon, rose, and charred cherries, that I could have sworn I just drank something utterly silky, not at all carbonating from whatever bacteria is now going wild in there. True confessions: a third glass sees an end to the second fermentation / fizzy quality, but in the drinking this has lost that exquisite finish. Can't have it all with most California wines.

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  4/18/2019 - UpfromtheCellar wrote: 89 Points

  This wine has stood the test of time. Familiar old vine sweetness on the nose; smooth, balanced, spicy on the palate. Nice finish. Very enjoyable older Zin.
  
  Sad that Renwood has been sold to Rombauer and will be no more.

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  3/13/2016 - UpfromtheCellar wrote: 88 Points

  Still drinking nicely after all these years. Not a great deal of Old Vine Zin flavors left but the balance is there along with berries. Browning around the edges becoming pronounced.

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  11/27/2014 - CLE Rocks! Likes this wine: 92 Points

  This wine was well beyond it's prime, but we popped in on Thanksgiving and decanted it several hours before drinking it. It was a ruby red in the glass. Light fresh berries on the nose and initially in the mouth. While the fruit had faded it wasn't washed out completely. The legs were long and the finish was a bit shorter than I expected from this Zin.

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  11/22/2009 - JSHinson wrote: 84 Points

  This was a good wine, a little unbalanced on the acidity, that could be because it's age. Not sure..I've had some Zins that were supposedly long gone, that did better than this one...like a 21 year old Marietta...
  
  Lots of cherry and fig, as pointed out below, little off balance.

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