Aug. 13, 2009 - Recent, High-End Zinfandel

Our August tasting of recent, high-end zinfandels produced some surprisingly nice wines and a very close finish. The 2009 Vineyard 29 Aida and the 2007 Orin Swift Saldo each picked up 19 points, with the Aida winning with more first-place votes. Right behind was the 2005 Hartford Family, Fanucchi-Wood Road zin.

1. 2004 Vineyard 29, Aida, Napa (WS NR, WA 94) (3 of 9 firsts/1 seconds/0 thirds/4 fourths, 19 points)
2. 2005 Orin Swift, Saldo (WS 91, WA NR) (2/2/2/1, 19 points)
3. 2005 Hartford Family, Fanucchi-Wood Road Vineyard, Russian River Valley (WS 92, WA 90) (2/1/2/0, 15 points)
4. 2007 Gamba, Russian River Estate (CG 91, LA & OC County Fair Gold Medals) (0/1/3/1, 10 points)
5. 2006 Turley, Mead Ranch, Atlas Peak, Napa (WS 90, WA 88-91) (0/2/0/2, 8 points)
6. 2005 Haywood, Rocky Terrace Los Chamizal Vineyard, Sonoma Valley (WS 93, WA NR) (1/1/0/0, 7 points)
7. 2003 Rosenblum, Rockpile Road Vineyard, Sonoma (WS 94, WA NR) (1/0/1/0, 6 points)
8. 2007 Ravenswood, Teldeschi Vineyard (ringer) (WS NR, WA NR) (0/1/0/0, 3 points)
9. 2005 Williams Selyem, Forchini Vineyard, Russian River Valley (WS 89, WA 91) (0/0/1/1, 3 points)
10. 2004 School House Vineyard, Mesco Lanzas, Spring Mountain (WS NR, WA 93) (0/0/0/0, 0 points)

Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Vertical, July 16, 2009

Our July tasting of Silver Oak cabernet sauvignon from the Alexander Valley offered several surprises. Many of the group felt that the Alexander Valley cabs were more consistent in style than the Napa cabs we tasted last month. Some tasters also felt the overall quality was equal to or greater than the Napa wines. As with last month, the older vintages showed better than the more recent ones. The 1991 come in first by a substantial margin, followed by the 1985 and the 1995. The complete results are shown below.

Again, a big "thank you" to Larry G. for providing three of these wines and for suggesting the verticals in the first place.

1. 1991 (WS 91, WA 92) (3 of 10 firsts/3 seconds/0 thirds/2 fourths, 23 points)
2. 1985 (WS 90, WA 92) (1/1/3/3, 16 points)
3. 1995 (WS 92, WA 94) (1/2/2/0, 14 points)
4. 2001 (WS 89, WA 90) (2/1/0/0, 11 points)
5. 1993 (WS 86, WA 90) (1/1/1/0, 9 points)
6. 1990 (WS NR, WA 91) (0/1/2/2, 9 points)
7. 1987 (WS 82, WA 89) (1/0/2/0, 8 points)
8. 1996 (WS 80, WA 92) (1/0/0/1, 5 points)
9. 1997 (WS 82, WA 89) (0/1/0/1, 4 points)
10. 1999 (WS 87, WA 89) (0/0/0/1, 1 point)
11. 2000 (WS 86, WA 88) (0/0/0/0, 0 points)