The official results are in – pencils down.
The Royal Tannin Bomb’s massive Zin tasting are now in the can. Comment below, but first read all about it here.
The Contenders:
Turley Cellars Hayne Vineyard Napa Valley 2005 16.1% alcohol $100
Martinelli Jackass Hill Vineyard Russian River Valley 2002 17.5% alcohol $200
Lamborn Family Napa Valley Howell Mountain Proprietor Grown Zinfandel “Vintage” 2005 15.9% alcohol $43
Rosenblum Annette’s Reserve Redwood Valley Zinfandel 2005 14.7% alcohol $30
Mystery #1: Turley Cellars Hayne Vineyard Napa Valley 1996 17% alcohol $135
Mystery #2: Martinelli Jackass Hill Vineyard Russian River Valley 1996 18% alcohol $220
Mystery #3: Ridge Lytton Springs California Dry Creek Valley 2002 14.4% alcohol $37
Outcome: The most surprising disparity was the Turley 1996. Full-Throttle put it dead last, Tally-Ho gave it her numero uno accolade, and Bad Man put it just south of center at #4. So I don’t know what to tell you about that, but the rest of the wines were grouped nicely together.
The decisive winners, as can be seen above, are the Martinelli ‘96 and Rosenblum Annette’s ‘05, with the Lamborn Family 2005 coming in third by average of our ranks – not ratings; ranks (1-7) are the only fair assessment. It is reassuring that the Martinelli ‘96 and Rosenblum Annette’s ‘05 both placed in each of our top 3!
We all agree that Turley is the most disappointing now with the absence of winemaker Helen Turley; Full-Throttle didn’t care for the ‘96 either.
Bad Man wants to point out that although blind, he rated the Martinelli Jackass Hill 1996 and Turley Cellars Hayne Vineyard 1996 both 89 points, but with a noticeable nod to the Martinelli for being the superior oenophilical creation.
On night two, Bad Man took home the Martinelli 2002, the Ridge Lytton Springs 2002, and the Lamborn Family Howell Mountain 2005. After being open and decanted for 8 hours before being returned to their bottles and re-stoppered, the next day the Lamborn Family Heidi Barrett showed dusty sage and dill on the nose, and was completely devoid of fruit in the mouth with a clipped finish. The second day found the Lytton Springs 2002 had turned up the volume on the burnt overripe fruit, still super high in acid, with noticeable tannins and lots of sediment in the bottle. Still, I have to say it was fairly smooth. The Martinelli 2002 on day 2 was all sweet chocolate and velvety richness, with a subdued nose.
On night two, Tally-Ho had the opportunity to re-sample the Turleys. The Turley Hayne 1996 was like velvet, full and lush in the mouth, while the Turley Hayne 2005 was like silk, less bright than the night before and more balanced.
Comment below, but first read all about it here.
29/10/2008 at 3:53 pm Permalink
Well, the Tier I Zin tasting for The Royal Tannin Bombs is now in the can. I am fairly pleased with the outcome, from selecting the old Martinelli ‘96 as one of my top favs to picking the new Heidi Barrett as another top fav, with the Rosenblum Annette’s Reserve 2005 coming in as my overall favorite. It’s nice that my choice in top 3 coincides with the overall Royal’s group consensus, and at $30 (and after tasting it three times in the past few months with consistent results) the Rosenblum Annette’s is the clear flagship go-to Zin. Most of us can’t afford $30/bottle on a regular basis, so I’m afraid I won’t be buying a lot of it, but it’s nice to know it’s a common wine that is easy to obtain when needed, and is completely fairly priced at the low-end of the top-tier Zin price point, before the skyrocketing starts with the $40 Rosenblum Maggie’s Reserve Zin and continues on up to Martinelli and Turley.
Rooted in one of my all-time favorite Zin vineyards, the Mystery #3, was the Ridge Lytton Springs 2002. Although I didn’t really write down anything too terrible about this wine, we ranked it 3, 4, and 5 (my ranking), and I’m just not impressed. I know that was a terribly tannic year for the Lytton vineyards, and they struggled, and this bottle shows the power of which that special most precious Zin micro-appellation is capable. But it doesn’t show what Lytton was at its peak in the 1980s, before Ridge bought Lytton Springs Winery for $1,000,000, around 1989. I think that was unfortunate, while on the other hand you’d think that with Ridge’s resources they could continue the great Lytton tradition. But they have completely and consistently disappointed in that endeavor with the exception of a few Lytton Estate early 1990’s bottlings.
Speaking of which, I was disappointed with the overall results for the modern 2002 Martinelli Jackass Hill Vineyard, but it’s actually a relief as now I don’t have to save my rubles to buy another bottle. The same, but on a more extreme level, can be said for the poor state of Turley Cellars, proving that in the New World the winemaker adds more character than does the terroir, not the other way around as it is in France. Now before you all jump all over me I’m not saying that you don’t have to pair great terroir (such as that found in Bordeaux) with a great winemaker – you certainly do – but I’m sure Larry et. al. over at Turley Cellars aren’t exactly short on cash to procure a solid craftsperson to helm their sinking (well, already sunk) battleship – obviously that person is not Ehren Jordan, at least not for Zins. Turley is now officially a sad winery – not because they don’t make drinkable wine, but because the price-point they continue to demand rests on decade-old laurels, and that, my friends, is a crime. It’d be like Ferrari selling out and making their autos with Ferrari parts coupled with Ford engineering while continuing to gouge the customer $170,000/unit. It’s not like Turley is just putting out one of the more pricey Zins – at $100 on release the Hayne Vineyard is right up there with any of the most expensive Zins, and as such is an absolute pile of rubbish. Come on Larry, that’s just disingenuous.
003 On a more positive note we have Heidi Barrett. Now I’ve only had her Lamborn Family Zins from 2005 and 2006, but both showed terribly in our tasting a few weeks back (you can read about that here – search for Heidi Barrett when you get there; it’s a long page). This time around her Lamborn Family Napa Valley Howell Mountain Proprietor Grown Zinfandel “Vintage” 2005 took the #3 honoured podium spot, placing 2nd overall for me.
002 The Royal Tannin Bombs gave the 2nd place trophy to none other than the crème de la crème Martinelli Jackass Hill Vineyard 1996, a treasure of a wine, which at 12 years of age is going strong – a real beauty – but I wouldn’t wait any longer if you’re holding some. I put it at third place.
001 And taking top honours in this year’s massive Royal Tannin Bomb Zinfandel tasting… Ranked #1 by both Bad Man and the overall Royal Tannin Bomb consensus… drum roll please… Ta-Dah!!! Announcing the Rosenblum Annette’s Reserve Redwood Valley Zinfandel 2005. This wine, tasted consistently three times now, is simply a fantastically great Zin. It’s lacking in balls-out power but it makes up for that in complexity of texture and bouquet. Full-Throttle picked up on the characteristic Zin bitterness, and I know this wine will get better over the next few years. I don’t think it’s what the Turley or Martinelli ’96s were back in their youth so don’t expect 12 years out of her, but she will be hella killer for the next 5 or so, that’s certain.
So there you have it – Bad Man’s final synopsis of the Zin tasting.
Any questions?
12/03/2009 at 11:11 am Permalink
This tasting was daunting: Zinfandel is my favorite varietal so my palate and rep were both on the line. We were pouring 7 major wines clocking in at over $750 dollars in inventory; and I was still going to have to deliver a meal worthy of the wines after imbibing these garnet gems. Yikes!
So how did it go down? Well, we had a mixture of consensus and discord in the evaluations and rankings. True, I picked the ’96 Turley Hayne as my #1 and I was certainly all alone in that choice. Maybe the Helen magic got to me but this was a fruit jam beauty with a wonderfully complex nose, great structure, integrated tannins and a nice lingering finish- all velvety lushness. This Zin continued to delight on night 2 when I finished off the bottle.
My #2 pick again paid homage to the oldsters on the table as I selected the ’96 Martinelli for this honored position. It had a brilliantly complex nose and the rustic chewy mouthfeel I love in a Zin. Smoky and spicy, the fruit was bordering on “late harvest” richness, but not in a bad way. We all ranked this wine in the top three, but the order varied.
#3 for me was the ever reliable and lovely ‘05 Rosenblum Annette. This is a stellar Zin for the price and just keeps showing well for us Royals (we all ranked it in the top 3 for this tasting but our order varied). The sugary nose can be a little much for me but this wine is a complex, fruit forward, spicy, tannic bomb. Enjoy!
I placed the ’02 Ridge Lytton Springs at #4. This Zin lost points on the closed nose but definitely delivered once the glass was tipped. It was a huge, tannic fruit monster. I’m not sure what’s going on with Ridge because this venerable Zin “R” winery continues to underwhelm lately. Let’s hope they restore themselves to former glory- soon.
Lamborn Family Howell Mountain 2005 pulled in at # 5, only one point behind the Lytton Springs so almost a tie for fourth place. Heidi Barrett delivered a very nice Zin here with a great nose, nice spicy fruit and some characteristic rusticness which always appeals to me. Finesse is not high on my list when seeking out a terrific Zin. When pouring my favorite varietal, give me big and bold every time.
The number 6 and 7 wines found the Royals back in sync. We all ranked the Martinelli Jackass Hill Vineyard Russian River Valley 2002 and Turley Cellars Hayne Vineyard Napa Valley 2005 in these last two slots (orders varied), which is a damn shame since these bottles dented the Royal coffers to the tune of $300. The ’02 Martinelli JAH was a hot pruney acidic mess and earned a disappointing sixth place from me. And the Turley Hayne ’05 was dead last in my rankings. Light colored, thin bodied, cherry and vegetal. It was youthful, simple and sprightly. Not what I look for when I pour a Zin. It was so uncharacteristic that it lost points for not being Zin-like. If you weren’t expecting a typical Zinfandel, this was a drinkable and easy wine, but a great Zin it’s not!
All in all, this was a terrific tasting! Many thanks to BadMan for making the high-end world class entries possible. I may never sit in front of a $250 bottle of Zin again but can honestly say it was well worth the experience and like BadMan I’m grateful to have a $30 bottle as a reliable go to. All hail Rosenblum!
12/03/2009 at 11:31 am Permalink
Well said, as always. I’m glad to read such a detailed review – I can’t remember much of the particulars at this point, except that Martinelli Jackass Hill Vineyard 1996 rocked. New Turley Hayne Zinfandel is super disappointing, but I have to say Turley Hayne Petite Sirah of the current vintage (2004) is excellent! That’s a different tasting, but it is on these pages for those readers who want to read about it (just type Turley Petite in the search box or click here).