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WTN: Rosenblum Zin Samsel/Maggie's '91..(short/boring)

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TomHill

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WTN: Rosenblum Zin Samsel/Maggie's '91..(short/boring)

by TomHill » Thu Sep 06, 2018 5:12 pm

To celebrate a life well lived, we opened last night:
1. RosenblumCllrs Zin SamselVnyd/Maggie'sReserve/SonomaVlly (14.3%; 88 yr old vines; 3% AlicanteBouschet; U/U) Alameda 1991: Very dark/black color w/ slight bricking; very strong toasty/smokey/oak/very pencilly/cedary intense blackberry/boysenberry/ripe/Zin/bit licorice loads of spicy Zin fruit very complex nose; soft slightly dried out some blackberry/boysenberry/spicy/Zin/licorice bit earthy some toasty/smokey/cedary/pencilly/oak quite complex/mature flavor w/ light smooth/gently/slight drying tannins; very long/lingering strong cedary/pencilly/toasty/oak/smokey some blackberry/boysenberry/ripe/Zin/licorice/pungent fairly dusty/OV complex finish w/ light/gentle tannins; loads of cedary/pencilly/oak & still plenty of ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Zin fruit but starting to dry out a bit.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. I, of course, followed KentRosenblum from the very start in the late '70's. I first read about him in Charlie&Earl's CGCW & started buying them early on and loved them. Shortly thereafter, around '80, I made an appt to visit Kent at his wnry in Alameda located in an old Naval locomotive repair bldg. Thru the '80's and into the '90's, my group bought a lot of his wines, more than any other wnry.
Usually, on my trips to Calif, I'd fly into Oakland, make a bee-line for Rosenblum, and barrel taste w/ Kent for several hrs. I first met Shana & Kirsten (and Kathy) when the were making a grand tour of the West and stopped in their RV in SantaFe & we got together for dinner. They were cute little kids then and totally bored by all the wine talk.
Kent was, of course, a veterinarian, starting his practice up in Montana or Wyoming. He soon learned that sticking his whole arm up the a$$ of a cow was not the most glamorous of work, so moved to Alameda and started a practice dealing in pi$$y little poodles and other small animals. This was when he got interested in wine and started making wine in his basement, afore he actually went commercial.
One of my best Kent stories was when one of his vet clients had driven down to Mexico & were returning home to Alameda. They saw this large gila monster in the road, stopped and grabbed it by the tail & heaved it into the trunk of their car, slammed the lid shut, and headed home. Unfortunately, the gila monster's tail didn't make it in and they drove all the way home w/ this tail flapping in the wind out the rear trunk. They immediately headed to Kent's clinic for him to help them out. I don't recall the end of the story but I think it didn't survive. But to hear Kent tell the story, it left you in stitches.
We shared many a meal over the yrs. One time I was out there in late November and Kent invited me over for Thanksgiving dinner at their home. There was wine involved, including some of his early ho-made wine. Often we'd get together at Bucci's for dinner...one of his favorite haunts. Met his brother Roger there one time when he was grinding up meat to make a large batch of Italian sausage. Roger was once a foil fencer and I was always raggin' him to get back into fencing..that you're never too old fence...me being exhibit #1.
Often at dinner, when we'd all have a fair amount of wine, Kent could be (easily) goaded into telling his Sven and Ole jokes, relying on his Scandinavian background growing up in Minn'sota. He had dozens of them. They were what we call "groaners". But when Kent told them in his best Scandinavian accent, you couldn't help but laugh.
I was shocked to hear of Kent's death ystrday. We wern't done yet. We had lots more btls of Zin to share yet. I'll miss the guy greatly.
Tom

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