WTN: Zincerely Yours

[Jenise]

Sketchy notes from a local tasting:

2007 Liveli "Orion" primativo: mild, pleasant. Would be better on its own but it's kinda lost among the big Californians $15
2007 Artezin (Hess, Mendocino): great character with typical zin sweetness and good structure, great buy at $17
2007 DeLoach "Forgotten Vines" (Sonoma): Dilute/mild, no finish, only serves to emphasize how good the Artezin was, overpriced at $35
2007 Frogs Leap, Napa Valley (Napa): heavy perfume, tons of oak, sweet, overpriced $30
2007 Seghesio "Home Ranch" (Alexander Valley): Rich, complex, very old vine w/o the black raspberry, good sweet and savory notes, should cellar very very well,and it's worth the money at $35
2007 Ridge "Ponzo VY", RRV, Black raspberry, dark chocolate, cherry bon bon, red apple cider, excellent, $30
2007 Ridge "York Creek", lighter in color with lighter body, but that's not a flaw--marvelously delicate, excellent, $32
2007 Ridge "Lytton Springs", Dry Creek blend (71% zin, 22% PS, 7% carignane) Black fruit, spicey and concentrated, outstanding $37

Sketchy notes from a local tasting:

2007 Liveli "Orion" primativo: mild, pleasant. Would be better on its own but it's kinda lost in a tasting like this $15
2007 Artezin (Hess, Mendocino): great character with typical zin sweetness and good structure, great buy at $17
2007 DeLoach "Forgotten Vines" (Sonoma): Dilute/mild, no finish, only serves to emphasize how good the Artezin was, overpriced at $35
2007 Frogs Leap, Napa Valley (Napa): heavy perfume, tons of oak, sweet, overpriced $30
2007 Seghesio "Home Ranch" (Alexander Valley): Rich, complex, very old vine w/o the black raspberry, good sweet and savory notes, should cellar very very well,and it's worth the money at $35
2007 Ridge "Ponzo VY", RRV, Black raspberry, dark chocolate, cherry bon bon, red apple cider, excellent, $30
2007 Ridge "York Creek", lighter in color with lighter body, but that's not a flaw--marvelously delicate, excellent, $32
2007 Ridge "Lytton Springs", Dry Creek blend (71% zin, 22% PS, 7% carignane) Black fruit, spicey and concentrated, outstanding $37

Jenise,
I am not sure about how you view such, but I am really pi$$ed when I pay some(almost) obscene price for a wine such as the DeLoach that you report on. Then, there is the $30 Frogs Leap. The Ridge wines seemed to hold their own very well even though I am hard pressed to pay $30 for zinfandel. And, yes I know I am probably going to take some flak for this attitude, but if I am nothing else, I am honest about my thinking. And, my thinking is that very few zins are worth that kind of money.

It looks like it will be worth it to pay a visit to Ridge next month while we are in Sonoma, and taste some of the '07s. I was thinking of bypassing it this trip.

If you're in the Ridge neighborhood, visit Coffaro - just up Dry Creek Road, just past the Canyon Road junction, before you get to Ferrari-Carano. Also, if it's on the weekend, Yoakim Bridge, right at the corner of Dry Creek Road and Yoakim Bridge Road, is well worth enjoying half an hour.
Coffaro is in the $15 - $20 range and moved me right off of Seghesio. Yoakim Bridge is a bit more serious in its taste, and to me is worth the $30-ish that the Zins cost.
DamifIknow what "serious" means.

John

[Jenise]

Bob, I don't begrudge you the desire to have the great cheap zins you remember as if time hasn't gone by, but I've gotta ask you: if the greatest zins on the planet like Lytton Springs and Geyserville still cost under $40, are these wines overpriced? Compare that price to iconic cabernets which command so much more: the bottles don't cost less, pickers don't charge less, water doesn't cost less.... Don't you want your growers to be able to continue growing and making zinfandel? I'm not suggesting that zins should cost like cult cabs, but nonetheless if you want this grape to survive it has to be supported. I don't think these prices are unreasonable.

Bob writes...I am really pi$$ed when I pay some(almost) obscene price for a wine such as the DeLoach that you report on.

After the bankrupcy and lousy reviews, I would not touch DeLoach with a bargepole! I will wait for the next (Roll-up Roll-up!) Calif wine show and check out their table. I have had 2 lousy wines this weekend and definately not in my usual Doris-here good mood!!

Bob, I don't begrudge you the desire to have the great cheap zins you remember as if time hasn't gone by, but I've gotta ask you: if the greatest zins on the planet like Lytton Springs and Geyserville still cost under $40, are these wines overpriced? Compare that price to iconic cabernets which command so much more: the bottles don't cost less, pickers don't charge less, water doesn't cost less.... Don't you want your growers to be able to continue growing and making zinfandel? I'm not suggesting that zins should cost like cult cabs, but nonetheless if you want this grape to survive it has to be supported. I don't think these prices are unreasonable.

Jenise, what prompted my reply to you was first, the case of paying $35 for a wine, (doesn't matter what kind), and then finding it almost undrinkable, because it was a bad wine, not a flawed wine, but just plain bad. Or at least that is the impression I got from your report. I am not really looking to go back 20-25 years when good zin was available for $10 - $15 but I do think that even at those numbers the wine should be enjoyable, and it sounds to me like the DeLoach wasn't. Plus, you did report on two in the under $20 range that were very good. Truth be told, my choice in zin leans more toward Nalle, than (even) Ridge, but Nalle has risen above the $30 mark, and is no longer on my horizon. I will say one factor I like about zin is their early drinkability. Having reached an age where I don't want to wait (can't?) 10 or more years for the wine to be ready, I can appreciate that early drinkability.

[Jenise]

It looks like it will be worth it to pay a visit to Ridge next month while we are in Sonoma, and taste some of the '07s. I was thinking of bypassing it this trip.

Diane, it will. I'm not sure it ever doesn't pay to visit Ridge, but I think the Lytton Springs and Geyserville are both particularly special in this vintage.

[Jenise]

Jenise, what prompted my reply to you was first, the case of paying $35 for a wine, (doesn't matter what kind), and then finding it almost undrinkable, because it was a bad wine, not a flawed wine, but just plain bad.

Okay, gotcha. I wouldn't even call the De Loach bad, it was just wan and lacking the things even those of us who don't go for monster zins look for zin to have, especially at that price. At $8, I wouldn't have complained. Fortunately, I didn't pay $35 for the wine, I paid $50 for the chance to taste all of them, plus an 04 Monte Bello, and eat some mighty fine ribs in a pretty cool place called The Purple Space--a warehouse for wine tasting on the old industrial part of Bellingham harbor. It was a great evening out and the De Loach didn't bother me none, under the circumstances. It was interesting though listening to the distributor guy talk about how De Loach is back on it's feet, and I heard that a few months ago from a retailer just before I tasted the regular DeLoach at about $8 that tasted, to be honest, exactly like this $35 model. The industry seems to be pushing to move those wines--but nobody's buying it. I didn't buy any wines from this tasting but I did notice that the other 39 people in the room pretty were buying all the wines I liked and none of the others.

Diane, it will. I'm not sure it ever doesn't pay to visit Ridge, but I think the Lytton Springs and Geyserville are both particularly special in this vintage.

I'm convinced. I'm shocked to see that I only have a few bottles of the 2002 Lytton Springs left, so I really should check out the 2007. Thank you (I think) for the suggestion.

Papapietro Perry is another must visit each trip to Sonoma.

John - Yoakim Bridge is a new one for me, however, we won't be there over a weekend.

Breaks of the game, Diane! All the more for me.

John