Conference turris::wines

809.0. "6th annual ZAP tasting, 25 Jan '97" by SX4GTO::OLSON (DBTC Palo Alto) Fri Feb 14 1997 21:21

    
6th Annual Tasting of Zinfandel
Saturday, January 25th, 1997
2:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M.
Festival Pavilion
Fort Mason Center
San Francisco
-------------
I went with Stacey and two friends from our wine-tasting group, Paul
and Mary.  This place is much bigger than the Herbst Pavilion where
they crammed us in the last two years- it still got crowded, but not
unbearably.  They had plenty of bread, cheese, and fruit out for palate
relief, always nice.  I'll list all the names of the wineries who were
there, the names and regions of the wines we tasted, the tasting notes, 
and the projected retail price if available.  If I considered it a good 
value at the time I put a star in my notes- those are marked with "*" 
below.  Most of the '95s are still in barrel, soon to be bottled and 
released; some are already bottled.  Most of the '94s have been available 
since spring or summer '96.
    
    64 wines tasted of hundreds on offer- 13 marked with "*".
    
Enjoy-

DougO
-----
Alderbrook Winery
Amador Foothill Winery
Ballentine Wines
Bannister Wines
Belvedere Winery
Benziger Family Winery

Robert Biale Winery
  '95 Two Vineyards, Napa Valley
	balanced, spicey aroma- nice entry, long sweet finish.
  '95 Old Crane Ranch, Napa Valley
	Stacey says "big fruit, borderline jammy, impressive"
	Mary gets "chocolate"
	I get licorice, nice fruit.

Black Sheep Vintners
Blackstone Winery

Bogle Winery
  '94 Old Vines Cuvee, California			$9.50
	Stace: not impressed; I agree
  '94 Old Vine Cuvee, Reserve				$15.00
	Much more fruit, plummy- ok.

Brutocao Cellars
Burgess Cellars

Castle Vineyards
  '95 Sonoma Valley					$15.00
	Bigger (than the '94); more extract.
  '94 Sonoma Valley					$14.50
*	nice intense nose, good spice, clean finish.

Castoro Cellars
  '95 Paso Robles				
	rich and sweet nose.
  '94 Paso Robles
*	very simple, classic, and right.		$10.00
				(available for $6.99 at Wine Club) 
  '95 Late Harvest Paso Robles
	a little too sweet, not balanced.

Chateau Potelle

Chateau Souverain
  '95 Dry Creek Valley
	not bad, but not enough fruit- too tannic.
  '94 Dry Creek Valley					$11.50
	Stace calls it colored water but the flavors aren't great.

Cline Cellars
  '95 Live Oak, Contra Costa				$20.00
	Stace: awesome raspberry nose
	Doug: not bad; lots of tannin, peppery cedar.
  '94 Jacuzzi Family Vineyards, Contra Costa		$38.00
	too much acid, not enough fruit

Clos Du Val
  '95 Stag's Leap District
	classic dust- good fruit; some perfume
  '93 Stag's Leap District				$15.00
*	Stace: raspberry nose, 
	Doug: great light fruit

Coturri
Creston Vineyards

D-Cubed Cellars
  '95 Howell Mountain					$17.00
	Very floral- a little disappointing.  Finishes off.

Deaver Vineyards

Deer Park
  '95 Beatty Ranch, Howell Mountain
	smells like cookies, vanilla, toast; flavor is flat.
  '93 Estate (some petit syrah)				$18.50
	same toast aroma, finishes flat.

De Loach Vineyards
De Rose Winery
Deux Amis Wines
Dover Canyon Winery
Dry Creek Vineyard
Eberle Winery
Edmeades Vineyards
Estate William Baccala
Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery
Fife Vineyards

J. Fritz Winery
  '95 Old Vine, Dry Creek Valley			$20.00
	dried out
  '94 Roger's Reserve, Dry Creek Valley			$20.00
	pleasant, better than old vine
  '95 Late Harvest Estate, Dry Creek Valley		$16.00
	nice.

Gallo Sonoma Estates
  '95 Chiotti Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley		$14.00
	smells very good- rich fruit.
  '94 Frei Ranch Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley		$14.00
	licorice! reasonable.

Granite Springs and Latcham Vineyards
Green & Red Vineyard

Grgich Hills Vineyard
  '95 Sonoma						$18.00
	rich aroma; Paul says it tastes grassy; I find it well balanced.
  '94 Sonoma
	also well balanced; nice vanilla characteristics

Haywood Winery
  '95 Rocky Terrace, Los Chamizal Vineyard, Sonoma	$25.00
	very nice- high acids, but lots of flavor and tannin to handle it.

Hendry
  '94 Hendry Block 7, Napa Valley			$17.00
	excellent aromas, rich soil content in flavors- too much acid.

Hidden Cellars
Howell Mountain Vineyards
Ivan Tamas Wines
Karly
Keegan Cellars
Kendall-Jackson

Kenwood Vineyards
  '95 Upper Weiss					$16.00
	banana esters; tart, some spice; Mary gets 'barnyard'
  '94 Old Vines, Upper Weiss				$16.00
	much smoother

King Estate

Charles Krug Winery
  '95 Napa Valley					$11.00
	perfumey, floral, in both aroma and taste.

La Crema Winery
  '95 Reserve, Sonoma (1st zin from this winery)	$23.00
	rich nose, deep color- nice body, a little tart to me.

Lake Sonoma Winery
Lamborn Family Vineyards

Lava Cap Winery
  '95 Estate, El Dorado
	dusty, complex- Paul finds it toasty.
  '94 Estate, El Dorado					$20.00
	Mary: cassis, sweet
	Doug: I think its very dry 

Lolonis Winery
Lonetree Winery
Madro�a Vineyards
Martinelli Vineyards
Mazzocco Vineyards
Meeker Vineyard
Mietz Cellars
Milano Winery
Millaire Winery
Robert Mondavi Coastal
Robert Mondavi Winery
Montevina Wines
Morgan Winery
Newlan Vineyards
Norman Vineyards
Paraduxx

Peachy Canyon Winery
  '95 Dusi Ranch, Paso Robles				$22
	classic; fruit a little shy, lots of extract, light tannins.
  '95 Leona's Vineyard, Paso Robles			$22
	lovely spice and fruit, good balance

Pedroncelli Winery
Perry Creek Vineyards
Peterson Winery
Pezzi King Vineyards
R.H. Phillips
Preston Vineyards

Quivira Vineyards
  '95 Dry Creek Valley					$15.50
*	very nice, well balanced, full of flavor
  '94 Dry Creek Valley					$14.75
*	Also a classic, sumptuous style, very well balanced.

Random Ridge

Ravenswood
  '95 Monte Rosso, Sonoma
	good spice, good intensity, good balance
  '95 Wood Road, Russian River
	rich aroma, but very tannic and acidic

Renwood Winery

Ridge Vineyards
  '95 Geyserville					$22.50
	excellent; french oak apparent
  '95 Lytton						$22.00
	rich, spicey, fruity, great.
  '92 Lytton Estate, ATP				$24.00
	ahhhh....

Rosenblum Cellars
  '95 Maggies reserve, Samsel Vineyard, Sonoma		$25.00
	very, very rich; minty; good fruit.
  '95 Old Old Vine, Continente Voneyard, Contra Costa	$18.00
*	great fruit; rich flavors, good spice and depth.
  '95 Harris-Kratka Vineyard, Alexander Valley		$20.00
	nice depth; violets; caramels.

J. Runquist Wines

Saddleback Cellars
  '95 Old Vines, Napa					$17.50
*	banana ester; tropical fruit aromas; great, candied flavors
  '94 Old Vines, Napa					$16.00
	ok, but not very intense.

St Francis Winery and Vineyard
  '95 Pagani Reserve, Sonoma				$24.00
	great color; great aroma, but flavor lacks intensity
  '95 Old Vines, Sonoma					$20.00
	ok, but nothing great.

Saucelito Canyon Vineyard
Sausal Winery
Schuetz Oles
Seghesio Vineyards & Winery
Shenandoah/Sobon Estate
Sierra Vista Winery & Vineyard
Silver Horse Vineyards

Sky Vineyards
  '94 Estate, Mt Veeder, Napa				$17.95
	rich, nice extract, high acid, long finish

Sonoma Creek Winery

Spenker Winery
  '95 Lodi						$14.00
*	rich aromas, lots of fruit- excellent flavors, vanilla,
	spice, nutmeg, fruit.

Storrs Winery
  '94 Santa Cruz Mountains				$17.00
	heavy aroma, ok, nothing special

Storybook Mountain Vineyard
  '94 Napa Estate, Eastern Exposures			$17.50
	MUSTY

Summit Lake Vineyards and Winery
  '95 Howell Mountain					$16.00
*	licorice perfume- nice balance, easy drinking
  '93 Howell Mountain					$16.00
*	also excellent

Sutter Home Winery

Joseph Swan Vineyards
  '95 Stellwagen Vineyard, Sonoma
*	paprika! very intense- fruit and tannin there, sort of hard, good.
  '95 Ziegler Vineyard, Russian River
*	subdued aroma, but great fruit on the palate; lots of tannin- classic.

F. Teldeschi Winery
  '95 Estate, Dry Creek Valley				$17.00
	strong sulphur/barrel smell- violets- tough to evaluate
  '93 Estate, Lot 1, Dry Creek Valley			$17.00
	pretty good, no balance problems, nice fruit

Terre Rouge/Easton Wines
Thornton Winery

Topolos at Russian River Vineyards
  '95 Rossi Ranch, Sonoma				$21.50
	not too good- barrel odors
  '95 Piner Heights, Russian River Valley		$16.50
*	really nice licorice, lemony aromas- some evergreen flavors,
	kinda nice, like it.

Tria
Turley Wine Cellars
  (they ran out of wine before we got to them! last year among my favorites.)
Turnbull Wine Cellars

Unalii Hillside Estates
  '95 Lodi (1st zin)					$16.00
	nice rich fruit aromas- not quite enough fruit flavor to
	carry the tart finish.

Vigil Vineyard
  '95 Tres Condados					$12.00
	complex- lots of oak, some nice aromas (vanilla) good fruit.
  '95 Terra Vin (55% Carignan, 45% Zin)
	a nice change in aroma from all the zins!  good quaffer/bbq wine.

Villa Mt Eden
Vista Del Rey Vineyards
Voss Vineyards
Wellington Vineyards
Windsor Vineyards