Tried these three last night in search of a good red to drink:
1. Turley Zin DuarteVnyd/ContraCostaCnty (15.4%) 1996: Med.light some murkey/brown color; rather earthy/dusty/OV light toasty/oak bit pencilly/oldZin rather mushroomy/ContraCosta/truffly some complex nose w/ no alcoholic/heat; soft rather mushroomy/earthy/CC light toasty/Fr.oak slight blackberry/Zin bit alcoholic rather pencilly/old Zin bit tired flavor w/ light/drying tannins; med.long soft earthy/mushroomy/CC Zin light toasty/oak bit hot/alcoholic quite pencilly/old Zin rather tired/dried out finish w/ light/astringent tannins; speaks on ContraCosta but rather tired/dried out thought not unpleasant. $23.00
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2. Turley Zin GristVnyd/DryCreekVlly (16.3%) 1996: Light rather murkey/brown color; fairly pencilly/old Zin some spicy/raspberry/DCV Zin bit dusty/OV light toasty/oak rather complex fairly interesting nose; somewhat tart some bright/raspberry/ZinDCV bit pencilly/old Zin complex flavor w/ light/dried-out tannins; rather long pencilly/old Zin some raspberry/DCV/Zin/spicy light toasty/Fr.oak bit tired finish w/ light/delicate tannins; shows some classic old DCV Zin character and rather interesting but clearly on the downside. $25.00
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3. Turley Zin Black-SearsVnyd/HowellMtn (15.0%) 1996: Med.dark rather bricked color; strong briary/earthy/blackberry/Zin slight funky/wet dog fur rather foresty/forest floor/thyme/herbal/spicy bit toasty/oak complex nose; soft quite spicy/blackberry/Zin earthy/forest floor/dusty/OV/briary some toasty/Fr.oak light pencilly/old Zin fairly spicy quite alive flavor w/ light/smooth tannins; very long quite spicy/briary/dusty/OV earthy/HM/rustic some blackberry/Zin light pencilly/old Zin rather rustic/mtn Zin/HM finish w/ light tannins; speaks strong of old HM Zin & a bit like an old Ridge BeattyRanch Zin w/o the strong oak component; a rather attractive/interesting old Zin clearly on the downside. $28.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. It was a torrid day in LosAlamos ystrday, in the lower 80's, so I chilled these Zins a bit to beat down the alcohol. It worked, but enphasized a bit the drying/astringent tannins. Clearly all three of these were on the downside w/ the Duarte barely clinging to life.
These wines were in the early tenure of EhrenJordan as he was turning the ship around from the excesses of HelenTurley and making Zins that were more terroir-driven, less over-the-top, and less oak. Alas, Turley Zins still bear that stigmata from Helen of goopy/sweet/over-the-top wines. They are anything but and, even though they carry high alcohol levels, they are more restrained and balanced then they have ever been. Still some of my favorites.
Tom