Tried these two last night:
1. Gundlach Bundschu Zin RhinefarmVnyds/SonomaVlly (EB; Planted in 1855; 13.8%) 1990: Med.dark color w/ light bricking; light vanilla/toasty/Am.oak slight minty/eucalyptus strong blackberry/Zin/very spicy/peppery slight dusty/earthy complex beautiful oldZin nose; soft slight tangy/mineral/earthy very spicy/peppery light cedary/pencilly/toasty/vanilla/Am.oak strong blackberry/Zin/spicy complex flavor w/ light/smooth/gentle tannins; very long/lingering very spicy/peppery/thyme strong blackberry/Zin/peppery sone dusty/OV light cedary/pencilly/vanilla/oak complex finish w/ light/smooth/polished tannins; still plenty of peppery/blackberry Zin fruit and ageing very gracefully into a lovely old lady of a wine; beautiful stuff.
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2. Ferrari-Carano Zin DryCreekVlly (14.2%; 14 mo. in Fr.oak) 1990: Very dark color w/ slight bricking; very strong DCV/spicy/raspberry/Zin bit licorice some toasty/charred/Fr.oak bit peppery/rosemary some complex lovely nose; bit tart/tangy very spicy/rosemary/peppery some high-tined/raspberry/blackberry/Zin/spicy light toasty/Fr.oak flavor w/ light/zingy tannins; very long quite spicy/peppery/rosemary some bright/raspberry/Zin light toasty/Fr.oak some complex finish w/ light/bright tannins; speaks strongly of DCV, still plenty of fruit and no signs of drying out or fading; very nice mature Zin w/ plenty of life.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1.GunBun: I remember well buying this wine. At the time, the GB marketing guy was JimMcCullough, a guy I absolutely loved. He was a tall Irish fellow w/ this beautiful/sonorous baritone voice and a great sense of humor. I first met Jim up in Colorado, at the Aspen F&W Festival or the Telluride Wine Festival in the early-mid '80's and took an instant like to the guy. Not sure where he is now. Their winemaker was LanceCutler. He has retired from winemaking and is now mainly a writer I understand. JimBundschu, one of the owners, used to come to NM frequently, though hasn't been here in yrs that I know of.
This was a wnry that never took itself too seriously. They were all a fun bunch of guys. GB has sorta fallen off my radar. I need to retry their wines. (www.gunbun.com)
Though Rhinefarm was planted in 1855, I'm not certain that this is really an old-vine Zin as they've done lots of replanting at Rhinefarm.
Tom