Cracked into a case last night of older mostly Zins. These two were the only pleasures out of 5 other Zins that went down the drain or into the StreetsOfSantaFe box:
1. SaucelitoCnyn Zin ArroyoGrandeVlly (EB; 13.8%; Plnted: 1880; SaH: 24 Brix; TA: 0.81 gm/100ml) ArroyoGrande 1989: Med.dark color w/ some browning; some blackberry/boysenberry/Zin/very spicy/peppery very slight brett quite dusty/OV rather complex quite interesting nose; quite tart very spicy/dusty/OV some blackberry/boysenberry/Zin/ripe/spicy slight earthy very slight cedary/pencilly rather complex very attractive/mature flavor w/ light smooth tannins; very long/lingering very spicy rather dusty/OV some blackberry/boysenberry/Zin/very spicy bit earthy complex finish w/ light gentle tannins; showing some age but no metallic/tangy character of a wine headed South; a gentle/graceful old lady in the twilight of her yrs w/ many a story to still tell; a very attractive Zin that still has plenty of fruit that looks decrepit but still offers up pleasure. $12.50 (SC)
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2. Santino Barbera AmadorCnty (AgedRelease; 13.6%; 80% CooperVnyd/20% D'AgostiniBros 68 yr old Zin; 22 mo. in small Fr.oak) ScottHarvey 1987: Fairly dark/murky brown color; very strong smokey/toasty/oak some spicy/fennel seed/Italian sausage/Barbera quite spicy slight dusty/OV slight cedary/pencilly/oldRed quite complex nose; quite tart very spicy/Italian sausage/Barbera rather toasty/smokey/Fr.oak slight bretty/horsecollar some earthy/briary slight drying/cedary/oldRed flavor w/ light tangy tannins; very long quite spicy/Italian sausage/Barbera bit earthy/dusty/OV some smokey/Fr.oak slight bretty fiish w/ light smooth tannins; lots of old Barbera character and still some fruit remaining and still hanging in there; no tangy/metallic character of a red going South; an ugly color but still offers plenty of pleasure.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. SaucelitoCnyn: This is a wnry whose Zins I really used to like but they've sorta fallen off my radar. The vines were planted (own-rooted) in 1880. The 3 acre vnyd lasted thru Prohibition but was finally abandoned in the 1940's. The cows & horses that grazed there pretty much destroyed the vines, though there would be shoots that reappeared from the ground every yr. It was purchased in the '80's by William Greenough who then trained the shoots into new trunks and restored the vnyd to production.
I gather they continue to make Zin from this vnyd, plus other newer vnyds.
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2. Santino: This wnry was the one founded by Nancy & Matt Santino, who once had a wine shop in the SouthBay area. This was about the time that Matt died and ScottHarvey took on the winemaking duties left behind by Matt. So probably a wine that Matt originally made and Scott inherited. This was before Scott created the Renwood label, I believe. And this would have been an early crop from DickCooper's vnyd. And before LeeSobon bought the old d'Agostini property.
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3. Both of these wines had an ugly color that suggested DOA. They were not and actually quite good drinking. By this morning, they were both pretty much shot and turned an ugly brown.
Tom