Rank: 2nd Place Rating: 93 Approximate Price: $23 Cutting: A beautiful wine with strong plum, blueberry, licorice and pepper characteristics. The Dashe Zinfandel from Dry reek Valley is a beautiful wine with strong plum, blueberry, licorice and pepper aromas and flavor. Some tasters noted coffee, boysenberry and tea characteristics. This medium to heavy textured […]
Rank: 4th Place (tie) Rating: 92 Approximate Price: $29 Cutting: A Zinfandel Blend that is big, complex with chocolate, blackberry, licorice and spice characteristics. The Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel blend from Dry Creek Valley is a big complex wine with chocolate, blackberry, licorice and spice aromas. The blackberry, licorice and spice continue on the […]
Rank: 4th Place (Tie) Rating: 91 Approximate Price: $35 Cutting: A big wine with dusty plum, black cherry, licorice and spice characteristics. This is a big wine with dusty plum, black cherry, licorice and spice aromas and flavors. In spite of its last place finish (tie), the Ravenswood Teldeschi Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley […]
Dry Creek Valley is home to some of the greatest Zinfandels in the world. The relatively new American Viticultural Area of Rockpile is a unique small stretch of land extending northwest from Dry Creek Valley that also delivers excellent wines. Check back over the next several days as we taste and review the Dry Creek […]
Rank: 1st Place Rating: 91 Approximate Price: $28 Cutting: A delicious Zinfandel featuring brambly blackberry, coffee and vanilla spice characteristics and a great long finish. The Ferrari-Carano Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley features brambly blackberry, coffee and vanilla spice aromas and flavors. Some tasters observed raspberry, cassis and oak characteristics. This is a delicious medium […]
Rank: 2nd Place (Tie) Rating: 94 Approximate Price: $37 Cutting: A massive complex wine with cherry, blackberry, violets, licorice, pepper and many other characteristics. The Seghesio Cortina Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley is a massive and complex wine featuring cherry, blackberry, violets, licorice and pepper aromas and flavors. Various tasters observed a wide range of […]
Rank: 2nd Place (tie) Rating: 90 Approximate Price: $18 Cutting: All our Zinfanatics tasters enjoyed this wine featuring black cherry, raspberry, plum, licorice and pepper characteristics. Black cherry, raspberry, plum, licorice and pepper aromas and flavors appear in the Rancho Zabaco Reserve Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley. Some tasters also observed almond and other nut […]
Rank: 4th Place Rating: 88 Approximate Price: $20 Cutting: A simple wine featuring cherry, cinnamon and spice characteristics. Donald and Sons Three Loose Screws Smoking Loon Flock Old Vine Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley features cherry, cinnamon and spice aromas and flavors. Some tasters observed vanilla, raspberry, coffee and raisin characteristics. A simple, but […]
Rank: 5th Place Rating: 89 Approximate Price: $24 Cutting: An enjoyable fruity wine showing cherry, plum, raspberry and peppery characteristics. The Bella Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley displays black cherry, plum, raspberry and peppery aromas and flavors. This enjoyable medium bodied wine is very fruity, but balanced and has a medium to long finish. Some […]
The Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County represents the heart of Zinfandel country. Join us over the next several days as we taste and rank these five Dry Creek Valley Zinfandels: 1. Bella Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley (2007) 2. Ferrari-Carano Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley (2007) 3. Rancho Zabaco Reserve Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley (2007) […]
Participated in our first virtual tasting on TasteLive tonight. Featured three wines from Dashe Cellars. The tasting was led by Mike Dashe and featured three of their top Zins: Florence (2008) Todd Brothers (2008) Louvau (2007) All three are excellent wines. Florence and Louvau are from Dry Creek Valley; Todd is from Alexander Valley. All […]
Rank: 1st Place (Tie) Rating: 93 Approximate Price: $17 Cutting: A tremendous wine bursting with blackberry, cassis, smoke and spice that excited many of our Zinfanatics. The Plungerhead Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley is a tremendous wine with intriguing blackberry, cassis, smoky and spice aromas and flavors. Some tasters described raspberry, leather, cinnamon, bay leaf, […]
Rank: 1st Place (Tie) Rating: 91 Approximate Price: $20 Cutting: This wine featuring black cherry, berry, spice and tea characteristics was a favorite of all Zinfanatic tasters. The Francis Ford Coppola Director’s Cut Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley features wonderful black cherry, berry, spice and tea aromas and flavors. Some Zinfanatics noted cola, plum, tobacco […]
Rank: 3rd Place Rating: 90 Approximate Price: $18 Cutting: An excellent wine with red berry, spice and toasty vanilla oak characteristics. Terrific raspberry, strawberry, spice, vanilla and toasty oak aromas and flavors are featured in this Optima Unfiltered Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley. Some Zinfanatics detected cherry and cola characteristics too. An excellent, medium textured wine […]
Rank: 4th Place (Tie) Rating: 89 Approximate Price: $14 Cutting: An enjoyable wine featuring red fruit and spice characteristics that represents a good value. The Quivira Steelhead Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley highlights attractive aromas of red and blue berry, violets and spice. On the palate, our Zinfanatics noted a mixed bag of red fruit, […]
Rank: 4th Place (Tie) Rating: 87 Approximate Price: $15 Cutting: A good basic Zinfandel with black cherry and pepper characteristics Pedroncelli Mother Clone Zinfandel displays black cherry, pepper and chocolate aromas plus adds some oak flavors on the palate. All our Zinfanatics enjoyed this light to medium textured wine, but its simplicity and short finish […]
Many wine enthusiasts consider the Dry Creek Valley to be the place where Zinfandel achieves its greatest expression. Dry Creek Valley is located in the central to northern portion of Sonoma County. Zinfandel grapes grow best in the hillsides above the valley floor. Our next Zinfanatic tasting features these five Dry Creek Valley wines: 1. […]
We had the pleasure of attending a tasting of six premium zinfandels recently at The Still in Lincoln, Nebraska. The identity of each wine was known in advance. There were about 12 tasters in total. Because the wines were not tasted blind per our normal Zinfanatic process, we are not publishing official rankings or ratings. […]
