Ystrday, we tried:
1. JosephSwan Zin Sonoma (TW) 1981: Med.light color w/ some bricking; some smokey/cedary/oldZin/pencilly light blackberry/Zin rather perfumed quiet complex nose; soft cedary/pencilly//oldZin bit tangy/metallic light blackberry/Zin complex flavot w/ light/delicate tannins; fairly long cedary/pencilly/oldZin slight earthy/tangy/metallic slight blackberry/Zin complex finish w/ light/smooth tannins; still has some Zin fruit left and a lovely example of old Zin in quiet/gentle way; fading off into the sunset but still a pleasure to drink.
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2. EdmundsStJohn Zin MtVeeder (12.8%) 1990: Med.color w/ some bricking; some blackberry/Zin/spicy bit toasty/smokey some dusty/OV quite complex/perfumed beautiful nose; soft rather dusty/OV rather spicy/blackberry/Zin slight toasty/smokey/pungent rather cedary/pencilly/oldZin slight earthy/root cellar complex flavor w/ light/smooth tannins; very long quite spicy/blackberry/Zin some pencilly/cedary/smokey/pungent rather dusty/OV very cedary/pencilly complex finish w/ light/gentle/dusty tannins; still plenty of Zin fruit and no big signs of fading w/ good complexity; lovely stuff.
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3. Montevina CabSauv AmadorCnty (EB; 12 1/2%) 1976: Very dark color w/ some bricking; slight toasty/herbal/Cab rather smokey/vanilla//pungent/toasty/Fr.oak complex bit briary/Zin-like nose w/ little fruit; soft slight herbal/chocolaty some briary/blackberry/AmadorZin-like quite pungent/smokey/vanilla/oak/pencilly complex flavor w/ light hard/astringent tannins; long pungent/toasty/vanilla/smokey/oak slight herbal/Cab/briary/Zin-like finish w/ some dried out/astringent/hard tannins; still holding on buut starting to dry out.
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4. BedrockWineCo EvangelhoVnyd Heritage ContraCostaCnty RW (14.2%; Drk: 2012-2020: MTP) 2012: Very dark color; very intense ContraCosta/mushroomy/Zin/boysenberry/blackberry/plummy some dusty/OV complex/OV lovely nose; soft lush/ripe strong earthy/mushroomy/ContraCosta blackberry/boysenberry/Zin/plummy bit licorice/chocolaty/DrPepper flavor w/ modest/soft/ripe tannins; very long ripe/lush quite dusty/OV rather plummy/blackberry/boysenberry/Zin rather ContraCosta/mushroomy/earthy bit chocolaty/DrPepper/spicy finish w/ light soft/ripe/smooth tannins; a bit like the RidgeMataro w/o the Am.oak; a bit like the old Cline Mourv AncientVines w/o the eucalyptus; speaks very strongly of ContraCosta Mourv; ripe/lush/balanced and very drinkable; lovely stuff.
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And a wee Bloody:
1. Tues is JohnBalagna's BD. #94. Some of us got together ystrday to celebrate. John has been tasting w/ me for over 40 yrs. He founded LosAlamos' first wnry..SanYsidroCllrs. Created the LeBombaGrande wine to celebrate the Trinity shot in '45, for which he did a lot of the radiochemistry work, post-shot.
Ystrday, I was looking for another old Zin to go w/ the EdStJ. So I spied the Swan in my cellar & grabbed that one. Blair was going to bring two oldies from his stash as well. The Montevina was one. And the other?? Yup....a Swan Zin '81. Chances of that coincidence happening is zero to none.
The Montevina was made back in the CaryGott era...back when Montevina was making some of the best wines ever made in Amador. Cary's asst winemaker was one ScottHarvey...who had a hand in this wine. Montevina had (perhaps) the first Cab plantings in Amador. They were never able to make anything particularly special from the variety. It always spoke more of Amador Zin than CS.
The EdStJ Zin was from ChesterBrandlin's Ranch on MtVeeder. Maybe some Mourv in there as well. Alas, the old vine Zin was pulled by Cuvaison and replanted w/ Cab/Merlot. Whatta waste.
The Bedrock I threw in at the last moment to bring some youth & energy to a bunch of old foggies.
Tom
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