by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

 
1. Turley Old Vines Calif Zin (14.6%) 1996: Med.color; attractive/spicy some light raspberry light toasty/pungent bit aged/cigar box slight tired nose; soft/smooth light milky/oaked/ pungent/toasty some cedary/cigar box light raspberry flavor; med.short light raspberry rather aged/cigar box/cedary some complex finish; showing full maturity; pleasant aged Zin.
2. Turley Lodi Zin Dogtown Vnyd (16.2%) 2000: Med.color; very strong plummy/mushroomy/LodiZin slight herbal/tobaccoy rather spicy some blackberry nose; soft/smooth plummy/mushroomy some raspberry/Zin bit buttery/diacetyl/oaked flavor; very long/lingering plummy/mushroomy raspberry/LodiZin finish w/ light tannins; nice Lodi/plummy character w/ plenty of attractive spicy/raspberry fruit; nicely done Zin.
3. Turley Paso Robles Zin Pesenti Vnyd (15.3%) 2000: Med.color; lovely fragrant/PR/jammy/blackberry very spicy/rosemary perfumed/aromatic/bit volatile nose; tart very bright/raspberry/blackberry/ jammy very aromatic slight oak flavor; long very perfumed/spicy/raspberry finish w/ light tannins; for the short term; terrific perfumed Zin.
4. Turley Napa Vlly Zin Tofanelli Vnyd (15.5%) 2000: Med. color; deeper blackberry/pungent/Zin light toasty/pungent/oaked licorice rather earthy/spicy nose; tart/rich/jammy blackberry loads of fruit some dusty/old vines flavor; long ripe blackberry/raspberry dusty/old vines some pungent/ licorice/earthy light taosty/oak finish w/ some age; needs a yr or two.
5. Turley Howell Mtn Zin Pringle Vnyd (16.2%) 2000: Med.color; incredible lush/bright/fragrant very blackberry/black pepper dusty/old vine complex aromatic nose; tart beautiful very spicy/lush/ raspberry/blackberry/black pepper very perfumed/floral almost Nebbiolo-like/lilacs flavor; very long/lingering very perfumed/aromatic blackberry/black pepper/raspberry/floral finish w/ light tannins; incredible Zin-aromatics on this wine; my favorite of these Turleys.
6. Turley Napa Vlly Zin Moore "Earthquake" Vnyd (15.7%) 2000: Med.dark color; deep blackberry dusty/old vines earthy/boysenberry light pungent/toasty bit alcoholic nose; soft deep/rich/blackberry/Zin/ boysenberry bit dusty/old vines light pungent/licorice slight alcoholic/hot flavor; long deep/ blackberry/boysenberry/Zin light pungent finish w/ light tannins; good richness and can use a yr or so.
7. Turley Napa Vlly Zin Hayne Vnyd (17.0%) 1996: Very dark color; bit alcoholic very perfumed/cedary/ cigar box some pungent/licorice dusty/old vines some blackberry/Zin bit complex nose; bit hot/ alcoholic cedary/cigar box/pungent/smokey dusty/old vines licorice/blackberry slight aged/Zin flavor; long some cedary/cigar box/aged Zin light blackberry/Zin dusty finish w/ some tannins; drying out just a tad and showing some aged/complex character.
8. Turley Napa Vlly Zin Hayne Vnyd (16.7%) 2000: Med.dark color;loads of intense fruit/blackberry/ black cherry/black cherry soda/cough syrup some buttery/butterd popcorn light oak nose; soft rich/lush blackberry/black cherry/cough syrup very spicy/perfumed/Zin light buttery flavor; long soft ripe/blackberry/black cherry/cola lighht buttery/oak finish w/ some tannins; loads of intense/ spicy Zin fruit, needs a yr or two.
9. Eric Ross Sonoma Cnty Old Vine Zin (14.5%) 1995: Black color; bit herbal blackberry/licorice/black cherry cola smokey/toasty/oak complex very spicy nose; very tart/acid/citric boysenberry/licorice/ peppery/herbal some toasty/smokey flavor; long citric/acid peppery/blackberry/Zin dusty/old vine smokey/pungent finish w/ ample tannins; really interesting/complex with a searing/teeth-chattering acidity to it that most people disliked; this wine will probably age forever because of the acidity.
10. Dutton-Goldfield Dutton Ranch / Morelli Lane Vnyd Russian River Vlly Zin (10 brls; 14.5%) 2000: Very dark color; very fragrant/perfumed/aromatic black cherry/black cherry cola/ Pinot-like incredibly perfumed/cinammon/cloves complex nose; soft very perfumed very spicy/cherry/ black cherry/cola cloves/cinammon light toasty flavor; very long bright/cherry/black cherry/cola very perfumed/aromatic finish w/ light tannins; an incredibly perfumed Zin more like a Dehlinger Pinot than anything; unusual rendition of Zin.
11. Frog's Leap Napa Vlly Zin (14.0%) 1999: Med.color; rather Am.oaked attractive raspberry/blackberry/ spicy/perfumed nose; soft/bright spicy/raspberry/Zinberry light Am.oaked light pungent flavor; med.long bright raspberry/blackberry/Zinberry quite spicy finish w/ light tannins; very attractive drinkable Napa Zin w/ lots of bright fruit.
12. Tres Sabores Rutherford/Napa Vlly Williams Ranch Zin (15.0%; Winemaker: Ken Bernards@AncienWnry) 1999: Med.dark color; strong toasty/pencilly very aromatic/perfumed licorice/ blackberry almost Burgundian nose; tart/bright pencilly/cedary very perfumed/spicy/blackberry/ black cherry/licorice flavor; very long perfumed very spicy/blackberry/licorice finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; amazing aromatics to this wine; this is how Henri Jayer would make Zinfandel if he could; my favorite of the three.
13. Tres Sabores Rutherford/Napa Vlly Williams Ranch Zin (15.0%; Winemaker: Rudy Zuidema@Robert CraigWnry; jjwco@WilliamsRanch.net) 1999: Med. color; beautiful very spicy/raspberry blackberry more vanilla/Zin-like/Am.oak nose; soft very spicy/Am.oaked blackberry/raspberry flavor; long spicy/raspberry/blackberry some vanilla/bourbon/Am.oak/light pungent/toasty finish w/ some tannins; the most classic Zin of the three; very well-made Zin.
14. Tres Sabores Rutherford/Napa Vlly Williams Ranch Zin (15.0%; Winemaker: Karen Culler) 1999: Med.dark color; very strong charred/pungent/tarry/toasty/Fr.oaked strong blackberry/ boysenberry/spicy almost coffee-like nose; tart hard very toasty/smokey/pungent/charred/oak strong blackberry/licorice almost Cab-like flavor; very long smokey/pungent/charred/tarry very strong licorice/pungent/blackberry finish w/ ample tannins; needs some age; dead ringer for the old Terraces Zins; big/intense Zin.

1. PesentiZin: This is the first Estate wine for Turley from the Pesenti vnyd, one of the oldest & most beautiful/impeccably-maintained vnyds in Paso. This is easily the best Zin (to my knowledge, and I've followed them from the early '70's) ever produced from those grapes. I was expecting a bit more extracted/intense character to the wine but I was quite taken by the perfumey/spicy aromatics of it.
2. The 2000 Vintage: Has been characterized my many as a "lesser" or a "weak" vintage, for Zinfandel, comparable to the '98's. I guess I would have to agree w/ that in a sense, but maybe not with the wording. These '00 Turleys, and the '00 Ridges are, to my judgement, an accurate reflection of the problematic '00s. I find, in those Zins across the board, lots of bright/fragrant/pretty Zin fruit; but not the depth and extraction and the structure for aging that you find in the "better" vintages. The wines are, by and large, made for the short-term and will offer much pleasurable drinking over the next yr or two. There are things you could have done to make the '00 Zins bigger and more ageable, such as saignee. But I think that both PaulDraper and EhrenJordan have crafted these wines to be quite reflective of the vintage... they are balanced and drinkable and ready to go and the appropriate touch of oak. We like our wines to be reflective of their orgins (expressive of terroir). There's no reason that we shouldn't desire the same wines to be reflective of the vintage as well?? To demand of every vintage in Calif to provide big/extracted/ageworthy Zins is, I think, unreasonable (yeah... every year's a "vintage" year in Calif, the say, or used to say). Competent winemakers will adjust their winemaking technique to reflect the vagaries of each vintage.... that's why they get paid the big buck$. Winemakers who make their wines by "formula" will suffer in a year like 2000. Probably the worst Zin vintage of my recollect (which, I admit, was not what it once was) was the rain-besotted 1972's. At that time, there wern't a lot of wine writers around to raise this big hew&cry about how dreadful the '72's Zins were. The InterNet existed only as a deck of cards that you'd punch out and mail to someone. So I remember drinking with a great deal of pleasure and gusto a lot of Ridges, a Clos du Val, a bunch of Barney Fetzer's, some David Bruces, afore I found out it was a "poor" vintage and I wasn't supposed to buy those wines. My, how the times have changed!!
3. TurleyZins: The most common complaint leveled against the Turleys are their high alcohol levels. I guess I'm not that sensitive to the alcohol and seldom find in the the hot/fumey character that I do in other Zins of this alcohol level. More importantly, Zins at this level often, to me, show a raisened/pruney/overripe character. I seldom find that in the Turleys when they're young and only see hints of it when they have some age. Simply put, the Turley Zins represent a style of Zin that does not appeal to everyone, but it's one I happen to enjoy. But not as a steady diet, I would admit.
4. EricRoss Zins: This is a Zin producer who never seems to get much recognition. They are located on the old SeaRidge property NorthEast of Occidental, about a hlf mile from the old Morelli vnyd. They have a small block of old-vine remaining on the property, plus some new plantings. Like Ridge used to have w/ their Occidental Zins, getting the grapes ripe can be a problem in many yrs. But there's a certain quality to cold-climate Zin that is special.
5. Dutton-Goldfield/Morelli: This is the old vnyd that Ridge used to take grapes from for their Occidental Zin, but Paul gave up on it in the mid-'70's because they were a struggle to ripen. I gather the vnyd is now owned by Steve Dutton (?). The wine was much different than I expected. It didn't have the high acidity level I expected it to show. In addition, it had an incredible perfume to it that Pinot-makers seem to be able to coax from Zin and Syrah. John Olney will be here in Taos in a few weeks & I hope to serve this alongside an old Occidental from the Ridge archives. Probably no similarity whatsoever.
6. Tres Sabores (3 savory flavors): This 3-pak is a debut offering from Julie Johnson-Williams of the Williams Ranch in the western Rutherford foothills. The idea is to take (essentially) the same grapes, give them to three highly-skilled winemakers, and see what they come up with. The wines wre dramatically different in style, with my preference lying with the Ken Bernards version because of its beautiful perfuminess. The wines are, all three, some of the best NapaVlly Zins I've had. The experiment was a grand success and I hope she'll continue with it in the future, including other winemakers as well. Its worth trying the 3-pak if you can find it.
7. Zinfandels: It's been some 3 months since I've done a Zin tasting, and quite a while since I've done one this good. Despite my passion for Syrah and Rhinish-wines; it's always nice to return to one's roots. Zinfandel was what hooked me on Calif wines and it's always good to go back and see an old friend and find she's just as wonderful as you remember her!!