15TH ANNUAL ZINFANDEL ADVOCATES & PRODUCERS WINE FESTIVAL!

Just returned from the ZAP festival -- about 275 wineries poured their zins to the very cheerful thousands going through the two buildings at Fort Mason. Here are the wines we -- Moi, Tom, Rhett & Michelle -- enjoyed in chronological order as we each whittled down a baguette through the hours of tasting:

2003 Tofanelli
2004 Tofanelli barrel sampling (03 is lovely but Tom thinks 04 will be better)
2004 Hayne Vineyard Turley
2004 Ridge Paso Robles Lytton Springs (a tad astringent)
2003 Ridge Geyserville (could have used more character)
2004 Rosenblum Henry Reserve (fabulous!)
2004 Ravenswood Tedeschi
2004 Ravenswood Old Hill
2004 Ravenswood Belloni (when we had this and it was the best, thus far, of the line-up we'd tasted)
2004 Ravenswood Dickerson (nicely smooth, with chocolate tones!)
2004 Schrader Train Wreck Vineyards (we liked this wine but as Tom said, "It's a raw bruiser -- no finesse", to which Moi replied, "Sometimes, you just want it that way." More sexually-charged puns were bandied about, and then we went on to ...)
2004 Schrader Ira Carter Old Vines

[Rather, the three of us tasted the second Schrader. Rhett, on his own and still charged by recent double entendres or however you spell that phrase, notices a couple of pretty pourers at a forlorn table and goes over to ask for a sample. I look at the winery and know it to be a pretender. But I wait for Rhett to taste and, yep, Rhett tastes and says, "It doesn't quite finish; it's incomplete..."

I observe, "So that's your Pity Sip...?"

Tom, who'd been shepherding us around to which wineries to sample, tsks tsks Rhett: "You cannot be merciful with your samplings today."

Anyhoot, moving on...]

2004 Neyers Pato Vineyard
2004 St. Francis Reserve Pagani (loved its characteristic that I called "smoke"!)

Except for Rhett, at this point, everything we'd tasted was enjoyable in one fashion or another. But we also had identified ahead of time the better zinfandel producers to sample since we certainly didn't want to sip our way through all 275 wineries. But we decide to take a risk on a winery unknown to us and sampled _____. I won't identify it since it was really bad -- basically red sugar water. As I told Michelle, "It's a bad poem in an otherwise great anthology."

2003 Ch. Montelena (elements of cough syrup)
2003 Chase Family
2003 Chase Family Reserve
2003 Cline Live Oak (Cline was pouring from several bottles so I asked the pourer, "Gimme your oldest, meanest, grumpiest wine." To which the pourer replied, "Grumpier and older and meaner than me?!" I nodded. And, yep, this Cline was enjoyable but also definitely "grumpy."
2003 Ed Meade

That's all folks! But I leave you with this image that greeted us at the festival: the backside of a blonde's back t-shirt that proclaimed a Goth moment:

ZIN BITCH!

A TASTE OF THE BEST OF NAPA VALLEY

Wine Tasting – January 8, 2006
@ Galatea

N.B.: Wine Tasting notes & rankings are by Robert Parker

2003 Peter Michael Winery Chardonnay “La Carriere” 97 pts
“This spectacular Chardonnay La Carriere is becoming one of my favorite California Chardonnays as it tastes like a Corton-Charlemagne on steroids. The 2003 boasts aromas of crushed rock, quince, lemon butter, and orange marmalade, followed by a full-bodied, powerful yet extraordinarily elegant wine with an amazing finish. It should drink well for 4-5 years”

2001 Jones Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 95 pts
“The 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the finest offerings I have tasted from Jones Family. An inky/purple color is accompanied by sumptuous aromas of sweet blueberry, blackberry, and cassis fruit, licorice, and toasty background oak. This full-bodied, unctuously-textured 2001 possesses tremendous purity, palate presence, and balance. The finish lasts 40+ seconds. It should drink well young yet age nicely for 10-12+ years.”

2002 Hundred Acre Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 98 pts
“As for the 2002 Hundred Acre (1,200 cases), this is a terrific example of great Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. A seamless wine with extraordinary concentration, a dense purple color, a beautifully sweet nose of black cherry liqueur intermixed with cassis, graphite, smoke, and underbrush, it is layered, multi-dimensional, and opulent, with a long finish. Although more accessible and flashy than the 2001, it is capable of lasting 15 more years.”

1999 Colgin Cabernet Sauvignon “Herb Lamb Vineyard” 95 pts
“This 200 case cuvee spent 26 months in oak. Its opaque purple color is followed by a gorgeous perfume of graphite, crème de cassis, and licorice, and full-bodied, layered, concentrated flavors with superb balance and density. Surprisingly sweet tannin as well as an explosive finish have developed over the past year. Colgin, which is already a so-called “cult” wine, seems to have pushed the envelope of quality even higher….as hard as that is to believe. As always, the truth is in the bottle…in vino veritas.” Robert Parker

1994 Dominus 99 pts
“Christian Moueix (owner of Chateau Petrus) and his talented winemaking team continue to rewrite the definition of a Napa Valley reference point wine. I have had a difficult time keeping the corks in my bottles of 1994 Dominus. Eight-thousand cases were produced from this blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc, 12% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot. In this vintage, 174 days passed between budbreak and the harvest, a remarkable period of time for any wine region in the world. The 1994 is strikingly thick, compelling rich wine with the texture of a great Pomerol, despite being primarily made from Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine exhibits a dense purple color, and an incredibly fragrant nose of jammy black fruits, spice, smoke, and loamy, truffle-like scents. In the mouth, it is full-bodied, with thrilling levels of extract and richness, but no sense of heaviness or harshness. The seamless Dominus possesses no hard edges, as its acidity, tannin and alcohol are beautifully meshed with copious quantities of ripe fruit. This wine offers early drinking, yet has the potential to last for 30+ years.”

1997 Abreu Cabernet Sauvignon Madrona Ranch 100 pts
“As I reported last year, the 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Madrona Ranch is a perfect Cabernet Sauvignon. It has been in bottle for over a year, and this wine, like all others, has easily soaked up its aging in 100% Taransaud barrels. It is a sumptuous, unctuously-textured, fabulously concentrated Cabernet Sauvignon that hits all the sweet spots on the palate, and puts the olfactory senses on overdrive. The wines smells and tastes perfect. It is a compelling effort that one day will be considered part of a small part of elite California Cabernets that may be rewriting the definition of greatness in Cabernet Sauvignon.”

1997 Harlan Estate 100 pts
“The 1997 Harlan Estate is one of the greatest Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines I have ever tasted. A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, with the rest Merlot and Cabernet Franc, this enormously endowed, profoundly rich wine must be tasted to be believed. Opaque purple-colored, it boasts spectacular, soaring aromatics of vanilla, minerals, coffee, blackberries, licorice, and cassis. In the mouth, layer after layer unfold powerfully yet gently. Acidity, tannin, and alcohol are well-balanced by the wine’s unreal richness and singular personality. The finish exceeds one minute.”