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)