WTN: A great old Cal Cab and Five Cal Zins

[Jenise]

Dinner with friends the other night--the wine theme was zinfandel, though thank God Jim missed that point and brought the Sebastiani which was everybody's WOTN. Poured/tasted one at a time, in this order:

1982 Sebastiani Cabernet Sauvignon, Eagle Vineyard, Sonoma
GREAT wine. After 26 years, I'd call this wine's condition just late middle age. From a cool vintage and what was at the time Sebastiani's best vineyard, the color is deep, dark purple red. Black cherry and black currant fruit are evident along with mint, spice and foresty flavors, and the finish goes on and on. A really special bottle. (12.6% alcohol)

2000 Gary Farrell Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma
Raspberry, boysenberry and loads of bramble with spice and cognac notes. Complex and aging nicely, with bright acidity and structure. No hurry. Excellent, and my favorite of the zinfandels. (13.6% alcohol)

2002 Joseph Swan Zinfandel, Mancini Vineyard, Russian River, Sonoma
Where it lacked the brightness of the Farrell it was softer and more elegant, and the higher alcohol wasn't obtrusive. Missed the spice, though.

2002 Dry Creek Vineyard Old Vine, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma
Dense black raspberry, boysbenberry and pine dominate the nose, making me suspect American oak. Is it the old vine thing or is this wine more heavily extracted I'm not sure, but if you could draw the tannins they'd look like an EKG--up/down, up/down. Still a more interesting glass of wine than I make it sound, but the fruit drops out with time. Drink up. (13.8% alcohol)

2003 Jodar, Sierra Foothills, Placerville
Very extracted--tastes of grape skins, not juice. Rough and purple. Nobody liked it. (13.9% alcohol)

2004 Toscano (from Villa Toscano), Shenandoah Valley, Plymouth
Light for a zin, barely medium-bodied, and the first thing you notice is a candied vanilla sweetness. Soft and friendly with barely adequate acidity, it lacked true zin character and if I had been tasting blind, I might have guessed a clumsy attempt at sangiovese before I'd guessed zin. Though I would have ranked it 2nd to last, it scored first with all four other women present, and was first or second with most of the men--which might have had as much to do with the short memories of the non-geek crowd as the more immediate comparison to the Jodar which preceded it. (15.3% alcohol)

My wife and I are big fans of Gary Farrell wines. We enjoyed a bottle of their 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon a few months ago. I have a bottle of their 2004 Rochiol-Allen Pinot Noir waiting in my wine fridge for another year or two. It's one of the best Pinot's I've ever tasted (but probably the most expensive I've ever bought too). Their winery sits on a hill with a beautiful view of the Russian River area. I highly recommend a visit to those who might be touring the area.

I don't think I've ever had a Cab under 13.5% abv, but I'd sure like to.

Wow Jenise, great fun.....

I've had a couple of wines by Sebastiani in the last year that were older than yours. the '81 was over the hill showing nothing but acid and mushroom soup. The '68 in the last couple of weeks was absolutely outstanding. The wine was fully mature but still strutting its stuff. Thanks for the notes.

mark

I don't think I've ever had a Cab under 13.5% abv, but I'd sure like to.

Think bordeaux... drinking the 99 Leoville Barton recently I noticed the abv at 12.5 %.... fairly common....

[Jenise]

I don't think I've ever had a Cab under 13.5% abv, but I'd sure like to.

Think bordeaux... drinking the 99 Leoville Barton recently I noticed the abv at 12.5 %.... fairly common....

How is the 99 doing these days? Last time I had one about two years ago it seemed to be shutting down, and I've been thinking it's about time to try one again.

How is the 99 doing these days? Last time I had one about two years ago it seemed to be shutting down, and I've been thinking it's about time to try one again.

I've never had a bottle of the 99 I haven't loved...and if you remember I think we bought a bunch of these at a sale in Newport Beach a few years back...I've restocked a couple of times since.... always very elegant.. I have a 94 LB I plan to open soon....

Years ago you opened a bottle of LMHB that I was not prepared to appreciate... you might be interested to know that I brought the 96 LMHB to a tasting last year, I think, and it was amazing.. wish I had bought more...but I did just pick up some of the 2003....and I know how to appreciate these now!! Big time...

[Jenise]

How is the 99 doing these days? Last time I had one about two years ago it seemed to be shutting down, and I've been thinking it's about time to try one again.

I've never had a bottle of the 99 I haven't loved...and if you remember I think we bought a bunch of these at a sale in Newport Beach a few years back...I've restocked a couple of times since.... always very elegant.. I have a 94 LB I plan to open soon....

Years ago you opened a bottle of LMHB that I was not prepared to appreciate... you might be interested to know that I brought the 96 LMHB to a tasting last year, I think, and it was amazing.. wish I had bought more...but I did just pick up some of the 2003....and I know how to appreciate these now!! Big time...

That would have been from that stash of the 97's I picked up at Whole Foods Newport, before it closed, for in the high 30's. It drank beautifully young. I still have a bottle or two left. The last bottle was disappointing and they might be falling off, but in the never-say-die realm of high quality Bordeaux even in dicey vintages like 97, I decided I'd rather give them a chance to come around again than just drink up. Might give you another chance if you and the stunning Lady Lorena ever travel this way....

LMHB for 30ish... oh...the good old days...

I will be at a conference in Portland in August...not that far away.... was hoping to hit some of the wineries in the area too....

[Jenise]

LMHB for 30ish... oh...the good old days...

I will be at a conference in Portland in August...not that far away.... was hoping to hit some of the wineries in the area too....

Oh, that wasn't the good old days. The MSRP was about twice that, even then, it was just a mis-pricing that I, ever the shoppin opportunist, took complete advantage of. Portland's just six hours away--maybe we'll come down, do some wineries with you.

Portland's just six hours away--maybe we'll come down, do some wineries with you.

That would be great fun... I'll keep you abreast, so to speak...

2004 Toscano (from Villa Toscano), Shenandoah Valley, Plymouth
Light for a zin, barely medium-bodied, and the first thing you notice is a candied vanilla sweetness. Soft and friendly with barely adequate acidity, it lacked true zin character and if I had been tasting blind, I might have guessed a clumsy attempt at sangiovese before I'd guessed zin. Though I would have ranked it 2nd to last, it scored first with all four other women present, and was first or second with most of the men--which might have had as much to do with the short memories of the non-geek crowd as the more immediate comparison to the Jodar which preceded it. (15.3% alcohol)

Jenise, since it sounds like people brought these wines, I don't suppose you know how this one was acquired or what it cost? I ask because I visited Villa Toscano's "sister" winery Bella Piazza when on a short swing through California a couple of weeks ago. I don't believe there is a separate winemaking facility, just another label and retail outlet. To make a long story shorter, the wine was both unimpressive and expensive, some of the worst values I have ever encountered anywhere. Both places are now on my must-not-stop list for Amador. The pricing, with large (30-40%) discounts for joining wine clubs and so forth, seemed designed to discourage bottle sales even if one were tempted. It made me wonder how they would move wine through normal channels if they didn't move it all through the clubs, thus my question. I think the Zin you described would be $20 at the winery.

One of the wines I tasted at Bella Piazza was a 2005 Shenandoah Valley Zin. It was quite different from what you describe but still not good - "raisins" would be the key word. They were also pouring a 2005 Esola Vineyards Zin, which I was interested to taste because in the old days Ridge used to buy fruit for their Shenandoah Valley Zin there and my ex-employer, Amador Foothill has also made one in recent years. The good news is that something of the character of that vineyard made it into the wine, the bad was that as Zins go it was rather light/insubstantial and the wine was insanely overpriced at $44. Even with the 40% two-wine-club-discount, it would be badly overpriced at $27, which left me wondering how they handled pricing in the normal retail market - if they participate in that.

By the way, local lore has it that the reason gender of noun and adjective don't match up in "Villa Toscano" is that there already was a Villa Toscana B&B associated with a winery in Paso Robles and they didn't want legal troubles. Apparently the owners must have been so enamored with the name that Italian grammar wasn't important.

By the way, local lore has it that the reason gender of noun and adjective don't match up in "Villa Toscano" is that there already was a Villa Toscana B&B associated with a winery in Paso Robles and they didn't want legal troubles. Apparently the owners must have been so enamored with the name that Italian grammar wasn't important.

True 'nuff, Mark. Martin & Weyrich in Paso started the Villa Toscana B&B years ago. Jean and I stayed there shortly after the earthquake of Dec. '03 and our son Andrew was the result

Mark Lipton

[Jenise]

Jenise, since it sounds like people brought these wines, I don't suppose you know how this one was acquired or what it cost?

You're right, though I provided the Gary Farrell and the Swan, the others were brought by my guests. The Toscano was picked up by one of them when they visited Amador last December. Interestingly, the same person who brought the dreadful Jodar. You wouldn't think the same palate would have found both wines attractive enough to purchase, would you? Interesting about hte relationship between the two wineries--I visited the touristy Bella Piazza about 7-8 years ago and found the wines completely underwelming in exactly the same way this was--no wonder.

"It was quite different from what you describe but still not good - "raisins" would be the key word."

Actually, raisins/dried fruit would definitely apply to the wine we had, at least in a dilute form as everything about this wine was dilute--that's what was behind my statement that blind, I'd have guessed it to be sangiovese before I'd have guessed zin.

By the way, local lore has it that the reason gender of noun and adjective don't match up in "Villa Toscano" is that there already was a Villa Toscana B&B associated with a winery in Paso Robles and they didn't want legal troubles. Apparently the owners must have been so enamored with the name that Italian grammar wasn't important.

That's too funny! I actually wrote Toscana with an 'a' in my notes, and realized my error before I posted when I went to check the alcohol on the bottle.

You're right, though I provided the Gary Farrell and the Swan, the others were brought by my guests. The Toscano was picked up by one of them when they visited Amador last December. Interestingly, the same person who brought the dreadful Jodar. You wouldn't think the same palate would have found both wines attractive enough to purchase, would you? Interesting about hte relationship between the two wineries--I visited the touristy Bella Piazza about 7-8 years ago and found the wines completely underwelming in exactly the same way this was--no wonder.

Well, that answers my question, it came from the winery. I thought maybe it had somehow made it's way to a retail shelf and then I wondered that the price might have been. Being familiar with the area, of all people, I should have known better. And if that hadn't warned me off, the tour bus-compatible parking lot and thousands of square feet of interior "decor" for sale should have done the trick. It's pretty clear that the target market for these places is not a wine-knowledgdable crowd. One clue was that Bella Piazza had a couple of Chardonnays on their list. Both were pretty good demonstrations of either bad winemaking or why everybody else in the area has long since given up on Chardonnay - or both. But I think for the crowd they cater to, "white wine" means Chardonnay, so it's more or less mandatory. It's also pretty clear that their business model is working, very successful marketing built around "futures" sales, wine clubs, non-wine merchandise, weddings and other events. The wine seems to be pretty much an afterthought.