Shared these two w/ Susan this weekend:
1. Maritime Bush Vines Pinotage Stellenbosch Scions of Sinai Atlantikas W.O: Stellenbosch (12.5%; 100% Pinotage; Culture Wine Co./Benicia/CA) Scions of Sinai/Stellenbosch/South Africa 2022: Very dark color; strong earthy/loamy rather coarse/Pinotage/little fruit bit pungent/licorice rather unattractive nose that speaks loudly of SA Pinotage; soft fairly strong/rich very earthy/loamy/Pinotage very sour coarse/rough/rustic very little fruit quite oafish flavor w/ ample/coarse tannins; a pretty classic expression of earthy/loamy Pinotage; a rather unattractive red that shouts Pinotage; nose is OK but quite unpleasant on the palate. $26.00 (KK)
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2. Sineann OldVine Zin PinesVnyd/ColumbiaVlly (14.8%) Sineann/St.Paul/OR 2021: Very dark/near black color; very strong blackberry/Zin/boysenberry/ripe quite OV/dusty some toasty/vanilla/Am.oak quite intense Zin some complex nose; fairly tart/tangy quite rich/lush quite dusty/OV strong blackberry/ripe/spcy/Zin some vanilla/Am.oak huge fruit rather structured/complex flavor w/ ample chewey tannins; very long/lingering finish that follows flavor; cannot tell it's not from Calif; reminds a lot of the old Edmeades DuPratt Zins of Jed Steele but not as oaked; a wonderful expression of Zin at a very attractive price. $23.00 (AV)
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More pinocrip from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Pinotago seems to have a lot fans for this South Africa wine. It's not a variety I've been able to develop any affection for. I often shows a lot of earthy/loamy/coarse character that I've never grown to like. This one had that in spades.
The Sineann Zin used to be fairly widely available here in NM & Peter Rosback a frequent visitor at various wine events. But it disappeared from the NM market well over 5 yrs or so ago. So I was very surprised to see it on the shelf at Arroyo Vino. So thought it would be a nice trip down memory lane. It was, indeed, that.
Tom