Gang of Pour - Spinning in Zinfinity Again

12th Annual Zinfandel Tasting

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Vintage 2001

ZAP Saturday Tasting
George Heritier's
Tasting Notes

Henry Harris'
Tasting Notes

One couldn’t have asked for better weather on Saturday, the 25th. The sun shone bright with temperatures in the upper 50s, making for a festive backdrop to the occasion. The big tasting held at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco has grown so much since we last attended, with 291 wineries now pouring, that they’ve had to expand from the Herbst Pavilion to include the Festival Pavilion as well. We covered the morning trade tasting, and although not as heavily attended as the afternoon "mosh pit," you still had to wait in line at some of the more high profile producers' tables. Because of the crowd, the profusion of wines and ongoing interviews, the following notes are necessarily brief, but hopefully give some impression of what was tasted.

2000 Acorn Russian River Valley Zinfandel Alegría Vineyards Heritage Vines: We’ve been fans of Bill and Betsy Nachbaur’s Alegría Zins since even before their inaugural ’97 vintage, thanks to their Ridge ATP bottlings, and this one continues in the fine tradition that they’re establishing, being a nice, rich, round and robust glass of wine. An ’01 barrel sample of the Acorn Alegría also showed lots of rich, upfront fruit and plenty of promise.

2001 Amador Foothill Winery Zinfandel Esola Vineyard: I got a taste of this and enjoyed it quite well, but failed to record an impression. Fortunately, Bree did, and had this to say - "This property was sourced by Ridge back in the 70s, and I still have one bottle of an epic late harvest Zinfandel made by Carneros Creek in 1977. Lovely spicy fruit in the nose that follows on the palate with a firm acid backbone that makes the wine easier to drink with food than by itself."

2000 Galleron Sonoma Zinfandel Branham Rockpile: Big, beautiful and luscious, with all that kind of “stuff” that I love in a fine Zinfandel.

2001 Robert Biale Contra Costa County Zinfandel Pato Vineyard: A wonderful, smooth glass of wine; beautiful red fruit, not too tannic, good acidity. Like velvet on the palate, with the signature Biale character. Rather different than the Neyers versions of this vineyard’s wines that we’ve become familiar with.

2001 Robert Biale Napa Zinfandel Aldo’s Vineyard: Darker fruit than the Pato, but the same luscious texture, lush fruit, big and full in the mouth; just wonderful, and despite some silky tannins, one you can drink tonight.

2001 Robert Biale Sonoma Valley Zinfandel Monte Rosso Vineyard Barrel Sample: It’s another big, beautiful Biale Zin with nice dark berry fruit; it’s smooth on the palate and simply delicious.

Unfortunately, I missed two of Biale’s other selections, but our Left Coast Correspondent, Allan Bree says that there's no truth to the rumor that Biale's going to blend the Black Chicken with the Spenker and call it “Spenk the Chicken…”

2001 Brown Estate Napa Zinfandel: This is one big mouthful of spicy Zinfandel fruit. I’ve been somewhat critical of the two previous Brown Zins that I’ve had the chance to taste, due to high levels of oak, but happily, such is not the case with this beauty. Rich round and spicy, with everything in balance, and one of the very best tastes of the weekend. David Brown (right) handles both vineyard management and winemaking (with Duane Dappan as consultant) for the Brown family in Chiles Valley.

2001 Dashe Cellars Dry Creek Zinfandel Barrel Sample: Rich, luscious, smooth fruit; delicious.

2001 Dashe Cellars Alexander Valley Zinfandel Todd Brothers Barrel Sample: Bree says, “This is a bigass wine!” And guess what? He’s right! Yumm!

2001 Carlisle Sonoma Zinfandel: Everything that I expected, especially after Mike’s assessment of the vintage; beautiful Zinfandel in what is proving to be the signature Carlisle style. What’s not to like? What’s not to love?!

2001 Carlisle Russian River Valley Zinfandel Tom Feeney Ranch: This one’s all about beautiful spicy perfume and so much rich fruit to back it up; another winner!

2001 Carlisle Russian River Valley Zinfandel Estate: Another beautiful, perfumed, exotic Zin; these folks do such great work!

2001 Cedarville Vineyard Sierra Foothills Zinfandel: A rich, earthy, tarry, almost Rhône-like Zinfandel, full of big, mouth filling fruit.

2001 Ridge Geyserville Barrel Sample: Ultra-smooth; perhaps not quite as rich, round and robust as some of the others tasted on this occasion, but very much in a claret-style, very refined, very elegant and very lovely.

2001 Ridge Lytton Springs Barrel Sample: More bite, more tannins and more acidity here than in the Geyserville; a bigger, more aggressive wine with tons of fruit.

2001 Ridge Pagani Zinfandel Barrel Sample: The most aromatic, “Draper perfume” of these three; just gorgeous aromas that explode from the glass. Ultra smooth on the palate, with beautiful rich, raspberry, lavender, lilac; just a mouthful of yum.

2001 Ridge Paso Robles Zinfandel: David Gates (Ridge's Vineyards Manager, left) was pouring this out in front of the Ridge table, due to the long lines waiting for pours there. Not as sunbaked and overripe as I might have expected; a little more subtle than these usually get, not that that’s a bad thing necessarily...

2001 Hartford Russian River Valley Highwire Vineyard: This is one tarry Zinfandel, in a good way. Big earthy fruit; not so much on the spicy side as on the earthy, tarry side. Almost Rhône-ish.

2001 Rancho Zabaco Dry Creek Zinfandel Chiotti Vineyard: Toastiest oak of any tasted on this occasion, with decent fruit to back it up; good if unexceptional.

2000 Saddleback Napa Zinfandel: Big rich sweet bumptious fruit that explodes out of the glass and in the mouth and isn’t overoaked to my tastes, and not as high in residual sugar as I expected; nicely balanced.

2001 Williams Selyem Russian River Valley: Dare I say this almost has a Pinot Noir-ish quality about it? Fancy that! Subtler than many of these rich, in-your-face Zins, with something like a note of rhubarb accenting the earthy raspberry fruit. Interesting and a little unusual.

2001 Sapphire Hill Russian River Valley Zinfandel Winberrie Vineyard: An explosion of sweet fruit on the nose follows through on the palate, being almost too sweet for me; bordering on a late picked or even late harvest style. Drink it with chocolate?

2000 Trinitas Russian River Valley Zinfandel: Second taste in 18 hours from Erin and Matt Cline's new venture; this seems to strike a balance between your rich Zinfandel and a claret style; nice fruit, with good tannins and acidity. Nice wine; too bad I never made it to their table to try the ’01.

Bree DID hit the Trinitas table and had this to say about what he tasted:

2000 Trinitas Zinfandel Russian River – an absolute joy – it has a fascinating and intoxicating perfume in the nose and not only signature Russian River flavors, but a delightful complexity in the flavor palate that elevates the wine to a high level. It is a wonderful accomplishment for Matt, considering it is their first wine out of the chute. Well done!

2001 Trinitas Zinfandel Russian River and the 2002 Trinitas Zinfandel Bigelow Vineyard were also impressive – each in its own way. The 2001 Russian River may prove to be all the 2000 is, and more when it matures a bit, and the 2002 Bigelow from Contra Costa County shows super-ripe jammy fruit and is a real face smacker. But clearly, their star of the day, and my wine of the day is the 2000 Russian River – this is a wine to look for.

2000 Sunset Cellars Dry Creek Valley Teldeschi Vineyard: Nice round blackberry, raspberry fruit; fairly smooth on the palate; very spicy and peppery.

2000 Van Rutten-Taylor Lodi Zinfandel: Our friends Shar Douglas and Ken Heibenstreit are fond of this producer’s $9 Cabernet Sauvignon – Shiraz, so I gave this a try, and it turns out to be pleasant enough, with round, spicy Zinberry flavors and aromas. Not too tannic, decent acidity; not bad for $15.

2001 Novy Russian River Valley Zinfandel Carlisle Vineyard: A big, big mouthful of spicy blackberry, black raspberry fruit; deep, dark and delicious. Henry Harris calls this “a big ’n,” and he hit that right on the nose. Wish I could have tried this side by side with the Carlisle version.

2001 JC Cellars Redwood Valley Zinfandel Rhodes Vineyard: Big explosion of fruit, and yet a smooth mouthfeel at the same time; very exotic, spicy Zinfandel.

1997-2001 Saxon Brown Sonoma Valley Zinfandel Casa Santinamaria Vineyards: I tasted through the entire vertical and was impressed with the consistently deeper, darker character of the wines than most of what was being poured at this event. Again, they have that earthy, tarry Rhône-ish quality to them (When I expressed that to Owner/Winemaker Jeff Gaffner, shown on the right, with Jessica Boone, he said, “Thank you!”), with the exception of the ’98, which seems cleaner, with more of a red fruit spectrum than black. Good stuff!

Bree and Delia Unfortunately, there was so much that I wanted to taste, but just couldn’t. One newcomer in particular that I’m sorry I missed was Tres Sabores; our good friend Tom Hill asked me to stop by their table, but somehow I never made it. However, Bree (left, with Dashe Cellars' Delia Montesinos) and Henry Harris did, and had very good things to say about their wines, as did a number of others with whom I spoke. Here's what Bree had to say: "I visited these folks at the end of my day, and did not take detailed tasting notes, but winegrower Julie Johnson has developed a unique concept. Her 30 year old Zinfandel from Rutherford is vinted by three different winemakers to create a trio of distinctive wines. Each is made from the same fruit, but crafted by different hands – Karen Culler, Ken Bernards and Rudy Zuidema. They are sold individually, and in three-packs. I think this is a fascinating concept, and I look forward to visiting with Julie, finding out more about Tres Sabores and tasting the wines more carefully."

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