Reviews

Editor's Choice. If only more Zins were this good! De Loach hits this one out of the park, with its fabulous wealth of wild berry, mocha, anise, spice, grilled meat and mushroom flavors. The high alcohol adds a wonderful varietal heat to the peppery finish.

Lusty, powerful, ripe and concentrated, this Zin could also be described by the old Yiddish word, zaftig. The vineyard is in a warm part of the valley, and the grapes show the influence of sun and heat in the jammy, slightly baked quality of the cherries and blackberries. It’s a really fine example of Russian River Zinfandel.

The raspberry and brambly fruit flavors intermingle with notes of dried rose petals, olive tapenade, cloves and baking spice.

This polished wine offers an array of ripe cherry, pomegranate, persimmon and cola flavors, making it rich and sweet in the mouth. Yet the finish is entirely dry, and you’ll find plenty of scoury acidity to rip through the greasy richness of lamb or duck.

Picture perfect Sonoma Zin, said to be made from old-vine vineyards. It’s dry, softly tannic and sweetly ripe in black raspberry, cherry and blackberry fruit, with a rich earthiness and even an umami touch of grilled bacon. Delicious for drinking now.

A distinguished Merlot, dark, dry and brooding. Complex, too, with deep flavors of blueberry, mushroom, dark chocolate and anise. The tannins are fairly fierce despite the softness, but the wine doesn’t seem like a longterm ager, so give it a decant before drinking over the next few years.

A little soft and herbal, in the way of certain Sonoma Cabernets, but incredibly rich, offering a heady array of flavors. Blackberries, blueberries, chocolate, sweet red licorice, pepper and toasty oak all mingle and make the wine rewardingly delicious. Seems best now and for the next few years.

A completely different nose of sauvage, earth and dark berry fruit liqueur aromas gives way to mineral-inflected, intense and ripe flavors that possess good phenolic maturity before culminating in a serious and moderately austere finish that delivers excellent length. This built-to-age and rather understated effort offers fine quality in a firm but well-balanced package that will require 8 to 10 years of cellar time.

In contrast to all of the prior wines, here there is enough oak to fight somewhat with the otherwise attractively spicy and ripe black fruit liqueur aromas. To be clear, the wood is not dominant but neither is it discreet. There is good richness and volume to the moderately concentrated flavors that possess good complexity but here too the wood comes up on the mouth coating and lingering finish that is supported by a slightly chewy finish. There is good material and the phenolics are clearly ripe so this will probably harmonize in time though at present it's awkward as there is also a touch of backend warmth. My score offers the benefit of the doubt as the persistence is indisputably impressive.