We tried these older Rosenblum Zins at our Pig+Fig tasting last week:
1. Rosenblum Zin BrandlinRanch/Mt.Veeder (13.8%) 1992: Med.dark color w/ some bricking; some cedary/pencilly fairlt strong spicy/MtVeeder/blackberry/Zin fully mature Zin complex quite attractive nose; lightly tart some raspberry/blackberry//spicy Zin fairly cedary/pencilly fully mature bit complex flavor w/ light tangy tannins; still shows some spicy Mt.V fruit but a bit tired on the palate & fading somewhat.
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2. Rosenblum Zin BrandlinRanch/Mt.Veeder (13.8%; Drk: 1993-2003-2008) 1993: Med.color w/ some bricking; more cedary/pencilly toasty/oak bit tired slight musty little fruit nose; soft bit dried-out/tired some astringent/tannic very little fruit some complex flavor w/ some astringent/drying tannins; pretty tired/dried-out & pretty far along. $nc (BSvSG)
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3. Rosenblum Zin GeorgeHendryVnyd/NapaVlly Reserve (13.8%) Alameda 1991: Med.color w/ some bricking; light cedary/pencilly some NapaVlly/raspberry/blackberry lightly spicy light toasty/oak bit complex nose; soft rather tired/dried-out cedary/pencilly/oldZin low fruit flavor w/ light tired tannins; a pretty tired Zin w/ little fruit left; pretty dried out & clearly on the downside; the least of these Zins
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4. Rosenblum Zin GeorgeHendryVnyd/NapaVlly Reserve (13.8%) Alameda 1992: Med.dark color w/ some bricking; some spicy/Zin/raspberry/blackberry more fruit light cedary/pencilly fully mature nose; rather smoot/gentle light Zin/raspberry light cedary/pencilly/mature Zin bit toasty/oak some complex flavor w/ light gentle tannins; probably a bit beyond its peak but a nice fully mature Zin.
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5. Rosenblum Zin SamsulVnyd/Maggie's Reserve SonomaVlly (13.8%) 1992: Med.color w/ some browning; fairly strong blackberry/Zin/blackberry/black cherry/boysenberry some toasty/oak slight cedary/pencilly rather complex some youthful nose; some rich/lush light cedary/pencilly/mature Zin bit toasty/oak some blackberry/Zin/boysenberry bit dusty/OV complex flavor w/ light ripe tannins; a bit on the faded side but still some Sonoma OV fruit & in pretty good shape but not going to get any better. $18.50 (Cheers)
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More rosenkranz from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. I have, of course, followed Kent Rosenblum from the very start in the mid-late '70's. His wines were pretty huge/extracted at that point w/ lots of alcohol. But late '80's, he started to rein them in a bit & drop the alcohol. The wines were much the better for that.
These three were Kent's top of the line Zins. I always thought the Hendry Reserve was the least of the bunch & a bit on the ordinary side. But lots of structure & new oak. I always preferred the Maggie's Reserve because it was richer/lusher w/ lots of OV character. It was my favorite of these three.
Tom