Tried these two from my orphan stash last week:
1. Elyse Zin MorisoliVnyd/RutherfordBench/NapaVlly (12.9%) 1991: Med.dark color w/ some bricking; bit cedary/pencilly/oldRed strong blackberry/spicy/Zin/plummy some toasty/oak bit complex nose; slightly tart some blackberry/Zin/spicy some toasty/oak bit tangy/grapefruity/metallic/drying out rather simple/quiet flavor w/ light drying tannins; very long riper/blackberry/plummy/Zin more mainstream Zin slight complex finish w/ light drying tannins; an attractive ripe NapaVlly Zin w/ good fruit in the nose but starting to dry out on the palate though still very much alive. $14.00 (SolCllrs)
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2. Elyse Zin HowellMtn/NapaVlly (12.9%) 1991: Very dark color w/ slight bricking; strong earthy/dusty/mushroomy/HM some peppery/spicy/blackberry/raspberry/Zin more toasty/smokey/oak some perfumed/fragrant complex very attractive nose; slightly tart rather spicy/blackberry/Zin/peppery some earthy/mushroomy/dusty some smokey/toasty/oak rather complex flavor w/ light smooth/gentle tannins; very long/lingering quite spicy strong blackberry/Zin/raspberry/peppery some earthy/dusty/mushroomy/HM bit rugged finish w/ light smooth tannins; a classic rugged HM Zin that has come together quite nicely; some like an old Ridge BeattyRanch w/o the oak; still plenty of fruit and little drying out but a bit on the quiet side.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. These two would have been made by RayCoursen. He also makes a higher-end set of wines under the JacobFranklin label. WebSite: www.elysewinery.com/. Elyse is Ray & Nancy's daughter's name. Jake is their younger son. Across the board, Ray makes some outstanding wines, mostly reds. His JacobFranklin PetiteSirah is one of Caalif's best PS's.
These two wines were from my orphan stash that was lost in my garage for almost 20 yrs under totally uncontrolled storage conditions, btls standing up-right. I was expecting to be totally dead. They were not. The Morisoli seemed much further along, showed more of that cedary/pencilly/oldRed character, and had that tangy/metallic character on the palate. The HowellMtn was in much better shape, showed no signs of oxidation, and was very nice drinking in a quiet sort of way (the wine..not me...I was raising mush usual hell).
Tom