California Zinfandel’s That Are Highly Rated

California Zinfandel’s That Are Highly Rated – Episode #208

April 4, 2007

Wines tasted in this episode:

Question of the day: “How do you manage your cellar”

Gary Vaynerchuk tackles four serious red Zinfandel’s today and is excited to share his thoughts, please share yours.

Having trouble seeing this video? Click here for the Quicktime version

255 Responses

Pages: « 11 10 9 [8] 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 » Show All

April 5, 2007

greg258
First Time writing here for me. Love the videos.

QOD: I use the VinCellar at VinFolio to track my cellar of a few hundred bottles. It’s quick, easy to use and update, features awsome reports, and has some great links. Best of all it is free even though I have never purchased from VinFolio due to inability to have wine shipped to New Jersey.

Keep up the great work Gary.
April 5, 2007

Justin S
Nothing like cali zin for me.
April 5, 2007

Ken
Gary, Iâ€™m sorry to hear that you did not care for the 2004 Terraces Zin. I have greatly enjoyed other vintages of Zin from the Terraces but I havenâ€™t had the 2004 yet and I believe that if it is built like other Zins from The Terraces it is too early to drink it. One thing that I have found about these wines is that they are almost like a Claret and they tend to age well as opposed to other Zins that Iâ€™ve had in the past. The other contrasting feature of these Zins is that they are nicely balanced and not too â€œover-the-topâ€ as you will often find with Zin. Additionally, I have found that they are better with a little bit of air/decanting. Also, try The Terraces Cab sometime and I think you will be wowed. The owner of The Terraces, Timm Crull, is a super nice guy and will spend several hours with guests visiting his winery (appointment only). The next time you are in Napa, make an appointment for a tour. It is one of the best winery tours Iâ€™ve taken.

QOTD: I really donâ€™t manage my cellar but I know that I should. I keep track of what I have on an Excel spreadsheet and I have notes on wines Iâ€™ve consumed in a Word file.
April 5, 2007

Kim T
Jenn Willis referred your site to me- very cool! I think next time I’m at the liquor store I’ll pass on my usual Merlot and give a red zin a try!
April 5, 2007

Bobby
Gary,

They are all whining that you didn’t score the Four Vines. Well if you have been watching the show from the first episode like some of us you would be able to tell by Garys facial expressions and other quirks that we have grown to love that he is going to score the wine 91plus pts. Count on it!
April 5, 2007

Fiorentina!
Hey Gary-
Fun episode….I’ve definitely run into those Fruit Roller Coaster Zin.s as well….aka 2004 Napa Cellars (more candy like), 2004 Alapay, 2004 Four Vines “Biker” Zin (one of those simple, easy, fun parachute rides that shoot you up and let you down slowly), and of course the 2005 Victor Hugo (This is just a Nuclear Fruit Explosion with some skittles ‘in the HeeZee’). I’m just curious, have you ever tried the 2004 Louis M. Martini Gnarly Vine Zin? If so, besides it being over priced, what did you think? In addition to this, What is your Fav. CA Zin?
QotD – We have a small inventory between 2,000 and 3,000 bottles, so we manually inventory every month. From there we put it into a system which keeps track of which bottles are sold….pretty simple, but it’s a mom and pop shop.
April 5, 2007

Jen
“Ri-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-co-la-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a!!!”
I am on a total Zin-kick so thanks for this episode.
(Plus, I loved the Smurfs, up until the point when they started to have new Smurf characters – like the baby ones, then I felt like they “jumped the shark” a little….and I still love pancakes and blueberries.)
April 5, 2007

Iron Man
Gary ratted me out, thanks Gary.

But Lou, I think you’re right, he didn’t rate the Dusi outloud, but I’m thinking 90+ points. Gary no likey red Zin.
April 5, 2007

BillH
Good ep! Always wondered who drinks that big-box-ubiquitous Seghesio Cortina Zinfandel. Somehow the label just told me it would be a MOAFB (mother of all fruit bombs).
I use Cellartracker
April 5, 2007

BillH
Good ep! Always wondered who drinks that big-box-ubiquitous Seghesio Cortina Zinfandel. Somehow the label just told me it would be a MOAFB (mother of a fruit bombs).

I use Cellartracker
April 5, 2007

Jeremy
QOTD: Excel Spreadsheet baby!
April 5, 2007

Ultimate Lurker
My very first post…just cause GV asked for it. I’ve been watching for acouple of months and have started to learn a lot from the show.
Wish I could order from my state! Thanks for the hard work…
April 5, 2007

Ejhafer
Great Show!

QOTD: I use excel, keep press clipings in word and have memorized the list.
April 5, 2007

Orion Slayer
Thanks for the trip through part of Zinfandelland. I have been wanting to try the Four Vines for a while, and now I’m interested in the Carol Shelton. (Gary, how does the Dry Creek Vinyard Zinfandel compare to old world style?)

QOTD: Cellar tracker and my memory (faulty as it is.)

(Does it count if I referred myself?)
April 5, 2007

Lawrence Leichtman
Cellar Tracker is my go to. I’m up to 440 bottles so anything less won’t do it and Cellar Tracker lets me keep good notes as well. Enjoyed the review of several Zinds I would like to try. Do you age your Zinds at all? so many people buy them for immediate consumption but they are ageworthy for an intermediate time say 5-7 years. I have some Ridge’s and a few Turley’s that have significantly improved over time. Paul the comment above me. How can you possibly manage 500 bottles in your head. When I did that the surprises I found were usually unpleasant.
April 5, 2007

e.fremont
Great episode. We like Ridge Zin and it is fun! QOTD Cellartracker Thanks
April 5, 2007

NathanN
QOTD: I keep track of my inventory in my head. I keep the receipts & stuff them in a corner for reference, but it is a mess so I don’t thumb through them that often. Sometimes I write on the bottle were I got it, the $, and when to drink this takes a while so it doesnâ€™t always happen.

Cool Show!
April 5, 2007

Paul
It sounds terrible, but I manage mine in my head, which is highly unreliable. And while my cellar is not that large, around 500 bottles, it means that I find all sorts of surprises (which I bring to WL meets).
April 5, 2007

Rob M
Here is a post shout out to the data tracker GV. Not my first post, but I am a lurker more often than not.

As for management of my cellar, all in my head. I try to keep under 100 bottles on hand, so it is not that hard to keep track of. I’ll check out cellar tracker for some of my older bottles.
April 5, 2007

Mike I
Cellar tracker – great for inventory, but it’s also a community – let’s you find out how your wine is drinking right now, if you need to decant, all that stuff. Plus, you can automatically generate a restaurant style wine list, a cool geek feature.
April 5, 2007

Alaska1
Ferrigno I think your right!
April 5, 2007

Fishamble
QOTD: Cellar tracker sounds interesting, but my most pressing cellar management problem is TEMPERATURE. Red wine sitting next to the kitchen radiator means that fast turnover is a priority, and the sinking feeling of realising a good bottle has been there 6 months+ is an effective ‘drink-me’ alarm. A bit late in the comments day, but I’d be interested in hearing where people locate their cellars for optimum long-term storage.
April 5, 2007

Dom
The personel wine curator
April 5, 2007

Corrado
Did anyone try Shoppers’ Discount Liquor or Shopper’s Discount Liquor (depending on whether “shopper” is plural possessive or singular possessive)? I see lots of poor grammar (and we all know that grammar matters!)
April 5, 2007

hugh
QOD-

I use Excel, which for me works well, and i keep the file on two computers in case one crashes, cuz i’m too lazy to back up my files!! I have about 400 bottles….