QOTD: Saucelito Canyon Dos Ranchos Zin. from San Luis Obispo county.

great show, blind tastings rock, and i am a big zin fan!

Love Zins!!!!

Saucelito Canyon Dos Ranchos, Paso Robles
Manzanitas Creek Finetti Ranch, Healdsburg (Fruit Bomb – all their wines!)
Rosenblum, Alameda and Healdsburg
Sable Ridge, Bennett Valley

Dude. You guys. Biale Black Chicken All the way.

#1 – your NYJ lost, get used to that!

#2 – yet another Zin episode with no Sierra Foothills producers! shame. just this week friends were discussing the extravagant pricepoint of some of The Original Grandpere producers – imagine bottles in the middle $30’s that would blow away the stuff on today’s show.

had Lust recently and cracked up when they called it a $50 bottle. Young’s from Plymouth hits the same notes with more fervor ~ $30.

QOTD: 7 Deadly Zins is my current favorite zin. Hubby loves Sutter Zinfandel – because he can get it so cheap. I can’t drink that, gives me big wine headache.

QOTD: Haven’t had too many Zinfandels, but I really liked Napa Cellars 2005 offering. Reasonably-priced, full of flavor, bold and dry with a long finish- everything I need in a wine!

favourite zin is still the St. Francis old vine Zinfandel

Good episode, Gary.

QOTD – easy for once: Seghesio Family Old Vine Zinfandel, Sonoma. The wine that turned me from beer and scotch to wine. Overwhelmingly delicious and redonculously consistent. Great QPR. Picnics, stand-alone wine drinking, poultry, and BBQ.

Good show but you need to look at El Dorado County and other hidden away Zins like—
Mt Aukum, Latcham, Lava Cap, Oakstone, Manzanita Creek in Healdsburg, and Berryessa Gap in Winters–yup Winters. All will blow the top of your head off.

I cracked a bottle of Ravenswood Zin (’05, I think), and we sipped and talked. I REALLY liked her. We’d worked together for a few months, and now my dream was coming true. We looked deep into each other’s eyes as we discussed politics and philosophy. Soon I was on top of her, lifting her sweater, exposing her belly. “I have to tell you something,” she said. “I’m a virgin.” I froze (She was 21). I liked her way too much to de-flower her after feeding her enough wine to get her tipsy. “For real?” was all I could say. No way – not tonight; that just wouldn’t be kosher. But even without sex, that was a night to remember. It would not have happened without that jammy, chocolaty, spicy bottle of Ravenswood Zin.

My favorite Zin is Opolo Mountain Zinfandel from Paso Robles. Full bodied and fruity. Paso Robles wineries produce some great Zins for reasonable prices.

QOTD…I love so many Zinfandels…it would have to be one of the many wonderful wines from Ridge. Also Edmeades makes some delicious vineyard specific Zinfandels that are each one unique and terrific.

G, great episode.

QOTD:

A. Hendry 2004 Block 28
B. Ravenswood 2000 Dickerson
C. Ridge, 2004 York Creek

D. R Kelly, 2003 Step in the name of love
E. Keith Sweat, 1996 Nobody
F. Lionel Richie, 1982 Round and round

Ridge Lytton Springs

Enjoyed the show – really like the blind format.
QOTD – Elyse Howell Mountain Zinfandel. Elyse is one of my favorite wineries – try the Petite Sirah at some point.

QOTD: 2005 Dark Horse Zinfandel (dry creek) or 2005 Brown Zinfandel (Napa)

Joel Gott 2005 Zinfandel. Only one I ever had, really enjoyed it. Really interesting veggie components on the nose. Very nice decanted.

I think you need to do a blind taste-off on WLTV against that fancy lad Brian Freedman from Classic Wines!!! Take him down to China-town Gary and show him what’s what!

Favorite Zin is Sable Ridge 2001 from Santa Rosa.

QOTD: Bella Vineyards

Ah, I am enjoying some Primitivo now, which is technically Zinfandel. A tad simple but enjoyable. More earthy than CA Zin.
QOTD: oooh huh I have to check Cellartracker to be honest.. oh yeah I have enjoyed 4 Vines Zins a lot and would like to try Ridge Geyserville soon.

Right now, I’m enjoying some of the Rockpile Zinfandels from Mauritson Vineyards, especially the Westphall and the Cemetery. I visited them recently and they had me sample all of them. It was a tough decision. But I like my spicy, big Zins. End of story! I’ve become a slave to the Zin. At least temporarily…Until I find something else…

Love Zin, but don’t drink enough of it. Seems like one of the very few grapes that, despite little/lots of manipulation, shows the climate and soil distinctly. The same producer will show completely different wines from different areas. A lot of fun. Plus they work as cocktail or food wines and they can take a few years of age and lose some of the baby fat.

Always been a fan of Ridge and what they do, but for big names, Rosenblum today does really solid, elegant wine across all vineyards, and they are <$35. They do more oak than I typically like, but the fruit is so strong and pure that it never bothers me. Lots of great, unknown micros.

At first, I was a big fan of the big, fruit and alcohol bombs Zins. Lately, however, I tend to prefer Zins that are more balanced, having found many of the bigger Zins to be flabby and lacking character. Additionally, I find it easier to pair the “lighter” Zins (13%-14%) with food.

QOTD: My favorite Zin is a 2005 produced by Omega Cellars in Lodi. This wine shows excellent character, plenty of fruit, and has a nice lingering finish. I paid the well-worth-it price of $13 at the winery. Another Lodi Zin that I enjoy is a 2003 made by Akin Estates Cellars. It also displays a lot of character, and it is made in the fruit-forward style. I’ve found this wine priced anywhere from $15-$18 in various supermarkets and wineshops.

I have to agree with Pauli way up above. I have no idea why so many folks would find Zins to be “too pricey”. They are about the best value wines available. The highest quality zins rarely go much above $50, and you can find really nice daily drinkers in the $10-$15 range. Prices may have crept up, but hardly at the absurd rate of other California varietals, especially cabernet. As with any other varietal, there are certainly examples of mediocre zins that are overpriced. On the whole, though, zinfandels cannot be beat for value.

My favorites:

Ridge Geyserville
Biale (Black Chicken, Aldo’s, Zappa, Monte Rosso, anything)
Bella Big River Ranch
Earthquake
Outpost Howell Mt.
Carlisle
Gamba