Tasting the Zins At ZAP

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jan 30th 2007 at 12:04PM

As a devoted wine consumer, I looked at the experience to taste Zinfandels at the ZAP festival with both excitement and apprehension. It's one thing to taste a few wines in an evening, it's quite another to spend a beautiful San Francisco morning tasting nothing but Zinfandels. It's a curious thing to taste that many wines. I set up shop at a table where I there was another taster and, after a short while, he said to me with a weary expression that he was getting tired and he was only ten wines in.

I would highly recommend attending ZAP next year for anyone who really wants to learn more about their likes and dislikes in wine. There is something about tasting only in one grape and a narrow range of vintages that distills wine to its essence. It is in that sameness that the differences start to appear. As an amateur taster I have often struggled to find some of the tastes in a wine that are listed on the bottle but tasting in this manner really makes the more subtle flavors come clear. While I was tasting, I also had a conversation with one of the volunteers about the fact that the press area didn't have a lot of women (although there were plenty of women down on the main floor both tasting and pouring).

After the jump, my notes on the Zinfandels I tasted (my late harvests and port-style notes will be a separate post). I rated them on an A,B,C scale. A wines are the ones where it seriously pained me to have to spit them out. B wines are the ones I would happily take to a dinner party or serve at home and they tended to be the type of wine that I generally associate with Zinfandel, spicy, robust and a touch over the top. The C wines are wines that I wouldn't go out of my way to find. My tastes run toward the fruit bombs rather than overly tannic wines.

A
2005 Seghesio Home Ranch, Alexander Valley, $36
cherry, spicy, a summer's day of a wine

2003 Nichelini Estate, Chiles Valley, $24
a big juicy wine with currant/cassis notes

2004 Medusa Wines, Old Vine, Lover's Lane Vineyard, Mendocino, $35
chocolaty and lush

A-
2004 Elyse Wines, Eaglepoint Ranch, Mendocino, $30
blackberry, a very romantic wine

2002 Sunset Cellars, Ledgewood Vineyards, Suisun Valley, $16
raspberry, very lipsmacking but perhaps a touch thin

2004 Z52 Old Vines, Clockspring Vineyard, Amador Country, $25
plummy, a nice flourish of a finish, a very rounded Zin

Zoom Wines, NV Lot 5, Reserve North Coast, $17
wild and peppery with a big, bouncy mouthfeel

2005 Artezin, Mendocino/Amador/Sonoma, $18
a happy fruit salad of a zin with major black fruit flavors

2004 Acorn, Heritage Vines, Algeria Vineyards, Russian River Valley, $32
very different, tasted like fresh cherries and springtime

B+
2004 Ottimino Vineyards, Russian RIver Valley, $35
If ever a Zinfandel was made for a pizza, it is this one, a big poppy Zin

2004 Macauley Vineyard Zin Blend, Moss Creek Vineyard & Brown Estate, Napa Valley, $28
the taste of a raspberry bush warmed in the sun

2004 Grgich Hills, Napa Valley, $30
gorgeous inky color and a very sophisticated clove and pepper taste

B
2005 Woodenhead, Braccialini Vineyard, Alexander Valley $36
grassy, earthy, vegetable notes

2004 Papapietro Perry, Russian River Valley, $33
pinot noir style, fruit forward and jammy

2004 Cakebread Cellars, Red Hills, Lake County, $38
it was nice but not as blockbuster as I would have expected from Cakebread

2004 Abundance Vineyards, Old Vine, Mencarini Vineyards, Lodi, $16
it had a taste a bit like a Sweet Tart, interesting but not much of a finish

2005 Kokomo Wines, Perotti Vineyards, Dry Creek Valley, $22
a big love of a Zin, jammy and pleasant

2004 Trentadue Vineyard, La Storia Estate, Alexander Valley, $28
a sprawling earthy wine with a robust and beefy taste

2004 Brutocao Cellars, Estate, Mendocino, $22
slightly smoky with woodsy notes and a nice fruity finish

2004 Valdez, Rockpile Road Vineyard, Geyserville, Sonoma, $38
a bit of a high alcohol content but overall a very drinkable wine

2005 Cardinal Zin, Oakley Del Barba Vineyard, Soledad
one of the few screwcap wines I saw, the kind of go-to zin that is perfect for everyday drinking

2005 Marcucci Farms, Fava Brothers Vineyards, Russian River Valley, $36
plummy and warm, a nice unassuming wine

B-
2004 Limerick Lane, Collins Vineyard, Russian River Valley, $26
tannic and a bit leathery

2004 Klinker Brick Winery, Old Ghost, Old Vine, Lodi, $35
Rustic, oaky, it earned negative points from me for having a bit of a funky nose

C+
2004 Mitchell Katz Winery at Ruby Hill, Ruby Hill Vineyard, Livermore Valley
Sharp raisin notes and yet not sweet, it tasted desiccated
C
2005 C5 Sidejob Cellars, Dry Creek Valley, $25
a classic Zin but not extraordinary

2005 Mantra, Alexander Valley, $22
oddly flavorless, didn't do much for me

2003 Trinitas Cellars, Old Vine, Contra Costa County, $18
This had a meaty aroma almost like dog food and a rather prickly taste

2003 Mariah Vineyard, Mendocino Ridge
tannic and a bit bitter for my tastes

Tags: san francisco, wine, wine tasting, zinfandel