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And a bloody pulpit that can only be described as.....
long & boring:
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Eberle Zins: This is about the 3'rd yr of production of the Steinbeck Zin.
As the vnyd matures, it seems to be getting better and better. This '97
is by far the best one yet. I had the Sauret '97 from barrel last Summer
at Raisin'Rhones. I was blown away by it; it was loaded by incredible rich
blackberry fruit, yet not that typical/classic blackberry/jammy/Paso Robles
character; with great structure. I thought it the best Eberle Zin ever
made and the best SauretVnyd Zin ever made. At ZAP in January, I found
the wine pretty closed up & subdued, not much fragrance to it. It was
a barrel sample drawn the day before, which may have been the reason. When
my shipment arrived a month ago, I cracked a btl two days later. It still
seemed a bit tight & lean & closed & hard & not the huge/lush
fruit that I recall from the barrel sample last June. But I wanted to give
it awhile before I threw it into a "formal" (at least, as formal as my
tastings ever get!) tasting; to delay judgement on the wine. So..... we
had the '97 Sauret w/ a bit of trepidation on my part. The fragrance &
the aromatics seemed to be returning. It has a pretty fair amount of tannins
& structure for Paso Robles Zin. It seemed a bit hard & closed
yet; not the huge/lush character the barrel sample had. The 15.5% alcohol
is not at all apparent. But the best Eberle/Sauret Zin ever??? I still
don't know for sure. I recall liking the '95 more at this same point in
time. Clearly, the '97 is not the mind-blowing Zin that I took it for last
June. In a yr, it may evolve into the best Eberle/Sauret yet... I just
don't know Zins well enough to predict. Make no mistake..... the '97 Eberle
Sauret is terrific Zin, at a very fair price. It's worth buying (my group
took 8 cases, untasted; and will take another 3 cases after we tasted it;
they liked it so well); highly recommended. Many of the Paso Robles Zins
have a slightly overripe very jammy/blackberry quality to them.... the
2 Ridges were typical of the genre... and a lush/fat softness on the palate
to them. Gary Eberle's Zins always seem to not fit that mold at all. Even
when the alcohol levels are 15% and above; they never seem to have that
overripe/raisened character of their Paso Robles brethern. The aromatics
seem to be more characteristic of DryCreekVlly Zin than Paso Robles Zin.
And they always seem to have more structure and balance than other Paso
Zins. Whatever Gary's doing w/ his Zinfandel, he's sure doing it right!!
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The ZOOM Zin was made at RosenblumCllrs by Kent's winemaker. It identified
the grapes as coming from a 29 yr old vnyd 10 miles north and 4 miles west
of Paso Robles. That can be no other vnyd than Sauret.
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FWIW: Tomorrow (May 1) they're having a tribute/celebration for Paso Robles
premier Zin grower, Richard Sauret, there in Paso. There is probably not
a more deserving grower in California. When I was there last June, Richard
& I tromped around his two vnyds for almost 2 hrs one afternoon. And
this was after he had been up since 3:00am out in the vnyd spraying!!!
He's an incredible, friendly, likable guy that people should get to know.
He usually comes to ZAP in January but mostly circulates thru the crowd
unnoticed.
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Lytton Springs : When I had the Ridge LS '97 at ZAP in January, I was very
much taken by the wine. I've faulted the LS from the last 5-6 yrs as being
a bit on the lighter/simpler side of the Ridge Zin spectrum. The '97 struck
me as much bigger & richer and more serious than any they've done in
a number of yrs. I then tasted thru the new Ridge releases a month ago
in Albq and found all the new Ridges to be on the light & washed out
side; quite disappointing. I think it was the venue there and the wines
being served on the warm side. When tasted with my group in the absolutely
objective/impeccable conditions we use; they wine was back to form....
the best Ridge Lytton Springs in a fair number of yrs. According to the
Ridge literature, as the Lytton West estate has reached maturity; all the
Zin will be going into their regular LS bottling and there will be no more
Lytton Estate ATP Zin produced in the future.
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Scherrer Zins: I've been following Fred Scherer's Zins from the very start
and have always loved them; some of my favorite Zins. I find that many
AlexanderVlly Zins tend to be a bit on the soft/underacid/bit porky side.
Fred's have never been like that; they seem to have more balance &
structure than any others. I regard him as probably the premier producer
of AlexanderVlly Zins. They always seem to have a very strong spiciness
to them I more often find in RussianRiverVlly Zins. With the '97 vintage;
he brought out 3 different versions. As last yrs version, the Shale Terrace
as a lighter more elegant/delicate side to it. The (new) Special Cuvee,
in addition to higher alcohol, has a sort of exotic perfume to it that's
a bit different than the O&MV. All the '97 versions seem to me to be
not as big and extracted as previous versions but they have that classic
Scherrer blackberry and spice. Terrific wines from a very talented winemaker.
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Ridge PetiteSirah: The Ridge PSs are always tough for me to taste. It is
a variety that I don't find particularly attractive. Usually black in color;
it often is badly lacking in aromatics and loaded w/ tannins; a coarse/clunky
red wine that is usually overloaded w/ oak. The Ridge PS is seldom this.
Paul Draper clearly knows tannin management probably better than anyone
around & I feel YC PS probably brings those skills more to the forefront
than any other wine. Though a big wine that usually ages for yrs, it seems
to have a suppleness & balance & roundness to it that few others
can achieve w/ PS w/o making a thin/ivescerated wine. Ridge PS is just
one of the world's unique. And when served an old one blind, I'm usually
totally clueless (one of my particular traits) as to the identity of the
wine. And the wines seem to age so well. The '71 YorkCreek PS served at
the LosAngeles Ridge Retrospective in February was one of the most stunning/sensational
Calif red wines I've ever had.... and still going strong.
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The Ridge Paso Robles Zins '97: When I tasted the PR LP '97 at ZAP, I was
quite impressed by it an thought it one of the best Ridge PRs yet. I still
am of that opinion. It was interesting to taste it aside the DusiRanch.
I much preferred, as did the rest of my group, the DusiRanch. It's a bit
of an over-the-top Zin but has sooooo much intense blackberry fruit w/o
having that alcoholic/raisened character very ripe PR Zin can have. Terrific
stuff. Both wines have a slightly off-dry character to them but definitely
are not the slightly sweet character of some very ripe Zins. As he usually
does in these cases when the wine has a sensation of sugar on the palate;
Paul Draper puts the residual sugar level on the label... which is .5%...
below the threshold of sugar in red wines.
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The Birbet was sold to me by Wayne Belding at BoulderWineMerchant as a
great wine to go with chocolate. As usual, he was right on. A partially
fermented Brachetto (a member of the Muscat family), the sharp/frizzante
character sliced right thru the richness of the chocolate cake; it had
a liveliness & zippy character on the palate that worked very well.
It reminded me a lot of Aleatico and a lot of a graceful/lighter style
of Lambrusco. Worth checking out next time you're having M&Ms.
TomHill
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