Tried these last night:
1. St.Francis Zin SonomaVlly OldVines (15.1%; 65 yr old Francesco'sVnyd; 12 mo. in Am.oak; SaH: 25.2 Brix; Bttld: Jan 1991) TomMackey/Kobrand 1989: Very dark color w/ slight bricking; very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Zin/licorice/RCCola very spicy quite dusty/OV smoe vanilla/toasty/oak beautiful complex nose; bit tart very dusty/OV/earthy very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Zin/RCCola very spicy/peppery light vanilla/oak complex Zin flavor w/ modest/ripe tannins; very long/lingering structured some tannic quite dusty/OV very strong blackberry/Zin/very spicy complex finish w/ modst/ripe tannins; very much like the Ravenswood OldHill Zins of old; a beautiful example ov OV Zin w/ plenty of very spicy fruit; no signs of age whatsoever.
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2. KentRasmussenWnry Zin Sonoma (13%) 1987: Very dark color w/ light bricking; rather strong leathery/horsecollar/bretty some blackberry/boysenberry/Zin/root beer bit dusty/OV fairly complex youthful nose; soft rather bretty/horsecollar/leathery fairly strong blackberry/boysenberry/Zin very spicy light toasty/oak some dusty/OV flavor w/ light/gentle tannins; very long/lingering rather dusty/OV strong blackberry/Zin/root beer/very spicy some vanilla/oak rather bretty/horsecollar finish w/ light tannins; bit on the bretty side but still plenty of wonderful youthful Zin fruit.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Not sure what vnyd is the FrancescoVnyd. Google tells me nothing. At one time, St.Francis also took Zin fruit from the PaganiRanch.
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2. I have, of course, followed KentRasmussen from the very start, when I fell in love w/ his PinotNoir and Chard. I first met Kent when I visited him at his estate vnyd down in the Carneros. He was this short/squat young (then) man w/ a short/bushy beard who reminded me for all the world of a cute little leprechaun like you find out under a toadstool, puffing away on this little pipe, smoking some of that tobacco that smells kinda funny. We've gotten together a number of times over the yrs. He took over an old meat packing plant up on the SilveradoTrail and converted it to a wnry and then built his home out back of it. They sold the home and moved down to Berkeley. The wnry was leased out to an operation, but I hear tell it has gone under. His wife, Celia, is quite an accomplished musician and has done a number of videos.
He also makes less expensive wines, mostly from purchased grapes, under the Ramsey label, Celia's maiden name. His wnry, w/ much smaller production, is now on his estate down in the Carneros. He has made some exceptional wines over the yrs, particularly some botrytis ones. He made Calif's first Dolcetto, packaged in this tall ugly cobalt blue btl. It was quite good. Kent's wines should be better known. (www.kentrasmussenwinery.com/)
Tom