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Weird thoughts from the dark side of the Bloody Pulpit:
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Richardson Zin: In it's youth, this was a very jammy/juicy blackberry Zin,
loaded w/ fruit. I fully expected this '81 to be totally dead. 'Twarn't
alive, and so little flavor left it was almost vapid; but it was one of
those rare wines that had aged gracefully and was but a whisper of its
former self. Usually such old Zins are totally dried out and oxiduzed &
bitter&astringent on the palate. This one was not.
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Storybook Zins: Jerry Seps is one of the Zinfandel icons who certainly
marches to the beat of his own special drummer. In the era of high-octane/extracted
Zins; here's a guy (along w/ Doug Nalle) whose mantra is elegance and finesse
and complexity; what's fashionable be damned. Jerry has remained true to
his vision of making claret-style Zins from the very start. If there's
anyone's Zins I want to love, it's the Storybooks; simply to have an alternative
style of Zin to drink. So I still continue to struggle with them. I find
that, when young, they have lovely aromatics and fragrance, but can be
a little tough & hard on the palate; badly needing age. So with a little
age, they still have these tremendous aromatics, but more often than not,
they still continue to be rather hard and pinched on the palate. But, every
once in awhile, I'll hit one exactly right, one that has happened to come
together beautifully and is a genuine pleasure to drink. Alas, I seem to
miss more than I hit. This '84 was a miss. Beautiful fragrance to it; but
pretty hard & hurtey on the palate. I ain't giving up, though.
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Nalle Zins: And here's another guy who's remained true to his vision for
Zinfandel from the very start; let the current Zin de jour style be damned.
Doug makes the point that he drinks a lot of his Zin and so, by dammies,
he's going to make what he likes to drink!! Not a point you can argue with;
except maybe unless your his banker. To me, Doug's Zins are the epitome
of DryCreek Valley Zins; they always this bright/ vibrant/spicy Zinberry
character to them; drinkable from the git-go. I find, when I just want
something good/tasty to drink at dinner, not wanting to think deep &
profound thoughts about terroir or such; it's a Nalle Zin I reach for.
Though Doug questions the sanity of why anyone would want to cellar his
wine, rather than drink it, I find that they do quite nicely, thank you,
with a few yrs on them. There still elegant & finessey & balanced
Zins. I see a lot of whining and gunching on the 'Net about the alcohol
levels in current Zins and the big/extracted (as that damn Charlie Olken
once termed them.."monster Zins with shabby table manners"... an epithet
for which I've yet to forgive him) styles that many show. For all you such
whiners...listen up.... this 2001 Zin is made for you and you darn well
better be out there buying it by the caseload. End of sermon. Doug always
puts some kind of cutsy phrase on his labels that is Zin-related. This
2001 Zin refers to "Senior Citi-Zin". Wonder who Doug had in mind... obviously
NOT me.
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MitchellKatz Zin: not familar at all with this winery; newly built on the
old RubyHill property out on Vineyard Ave betwixt Livermore & Pleasanton,
using much of the old brickwork from the old Ruby Hill wnry that burned
down in the early '90's. This Zin, though lacking in structure, had an
incredible raspberry character to it, almost like essence of raspberry.
Reminds me a bit of some Freisa or Brachetto as well.
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Carlisle RiebliRanch: This wine is a big black labrador pup planting sloppy
wet kisses all over your face, tail awagging like crazy. At in incredibly
low-yield, I was expecting this wine to be pretty tannic and structured.
However, it seemed surprisingly forward & drinkable, almost Marquis-Phillips
in style. Good stuff.
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Turley prices are all direct mailing list prices plus shipping. Turley
Zins: These are one of the rare wines I've managed to follow from the very
start. Even fortunate enough to score a bottle now and then of their reknowned
Smoot-Hawley Vineyard White Zin back when they were making it. It even
managed to make a mention in Stephen Brook's book on Calif wines. Those
Brits.....so gullible. It's been interesting watching the evolution of
the Turley style. Back in the exciting days of yesteryear when Helen Turley
was making the wines, they were noted for their rather over-the-top character;
big alcohols, big/intense/ripe fruit; high levels of extraction and tannins,
loads of toasty/smokey oak. The Turley-style was sp dominant that any sense
of terroir was pretty much obliterated. At least I couldn't pick it up.
Since Ehren Jordan has become winemaker for the wines, I've sensed a gradual
evolution away from that original style. Despite the high alcohol levels,
the wines seemed to be much more balanced (at a high level usually) and
restrained (I know...you NEVER see Turley and restrained in the same sentance).
The oak has been reigned in considerably. But, most importantly, the wines
show much more of their terroir than they ever have. And the winemaking
style seems to reflect the grape/origins much more than before. Instead
of making the wine in one style fits all, the grapes now seem to guide
the winemaking. Some of the wines, like the Lodi and the Pesenti, are made
in a much more forward style, for earlier drinkability. For the flagship
vnyds that always deliver the goods, like Moore and Hayne, these are made
in a much bigger/extracted style for longer ageibility. The Turley wines
are much criticized for their alcohol levels. Often above 15%. What is
always remarkable to me is that, even though the grapes must be harvested
at pretty high sugar levels, I seldom find any character of overripe/raisened/late
harvesty fruit in them. I wonder how the alcohol levels effect their ageibility,
as typically as the fruit drops, wines seem to show more of the alcohol
and the hotness cames to the fore- front. And, furthermore, the alcohol
levels on the PS & Charbono are usually below the 15% mark. Because
of Ehren's association as Turley winemaker and the association of the (old)
Turley wines with over-the-top winemaking; I think he's too often pictured
as an over- the-top winemaker. Wrongly. I clearly don't find that winemaking
in his Failla or Neyers wines by any means. The only question in my mind...how
long afore there is a Turley Syrah?? Seems kind of like inevitable to me.
A killer tasting of wines. Always nice to return to my (Zinfandel) roots
now & again.
TomHill
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