2002-01-27 - 1:39 p.m. i just can't get enough The highlight of my weekend was ZAP's 11th Annual Zinfandel Tasting at Fort Mason Center. Since Zinfandel is either my favorite wine varietal, or tied with merlot, and I wanted plenty of time to sample wine, I made a break from my usual tradition: I ponied up the cash for a ticket rather than volunteering at the event. Although my logic for this decision was sound, I think next year I'll sign up early to volunteer instead. At 1:30 p.m., the doors opened to the flood of consumers who wanted to taste -- I did not arrive until 2:00 or so, thanks to waiting forever and a day (or at least 30 minutes) for a MUNI bus...the ride to Fort Mason once the bus finally picked me up was only 10 minutes, so that was a plus. Many silly people drove to the wine tasting and were dismayed not to find parking, and spent countless minutes (or hours?) cruising the lots closest to the doors, hoping someone would leave and provide them with a place to stow their SUV... Taking the bus or a taxi is truly the best way to get to Fort Mason wine events, and it also keeps people from driving home when they're in no condition to do so. That's my public service announcement for this entry. ;-) The tasting was split between two cavernous warehouse-like spaces at Fort Mason Center. A-G wineries were in the space closest to the parking lot (Herbst Pavilion), with the rest of the wineries in the space in the farthest corner of Fort Mason (Festival Pavilion.) Since the "R"s hold 2 of my favorite zin producers (Rosenblum and Ridge), and I thought the majority of the crowd would probably start with "A" and work their way through the alphabet, I headed to Festival Pavilion first. As I walked through the door, I was issued one of those charming fluorescent bracelets such as the ones you receive at waterslides and other such amusement parks, turned in my ticket in exchange for my tasting glass, and picked up my lovely fresh baguette, and searched around for the tasting guide so I could plan my tasting around the time and my wine tolerance. Alas, they were out of guides, even at the ZAP information table. NOTE: If they'd had guides available at the ZAP table, and I could've obtained one by joining, I would've plunked down the cash. The upside to my lack of guidance is I had no idea how expensive any of the wine was as I was tasting it, so I had no expectations as to which wine should be the best one at any given table. With notebook in hand, and no set plan of attack, I headed to the back of the building, to the Ridge table. Ridge makes fantastic Zinfandel. This is no secret. If, somehow, you'd ended up at this event and were not aware of Ridge and their tasty Zinfandels, the 6 people deep and 8 people wide crowd in front of their table would have been enough to get you to queue. In fact, this was the method I used (since I did not have a guidebook) to decide at which unknown (to me) wineries' tables I should taste. What I Tasted I am including a few of my notes here...since these are my personal impressions, and wine is only my hobby, not my vocation, please don't expect Wine Spectator-level notations on bouquet and taste. Also note that since many wineries were pouring barrel samples of wines that had been in the bottle for a few weeks, the wines may change dramatically by the time they reach the shelves of your favorite wine shop. Wine pricing and other details are from literature published by the festival organizers or given out by the wineries. That said, here's what I tasted: Amador Foothill Winery - 1999 Ferrerro Vineyard, Shenandoah Valley. Very tasty with caramel and marshmallow notes. $15. - * 2000 Ferrerro Vineyard, Shenandoah Valley barrel taste. This wine was awesome, especially for the price. Similar to the 1999, but with more of a smooth mouthfeel and buttery taste. One of my 6 favorite wines at the festival. $15. Boeger - 1999 Walker. This wine is a consistent award winner, but I've never liked it as much as their Barbera. Full body and characteristic regional peppery and spicy notes. $15. - 1999 El Dorado. Similar to the Walker, I liked this one the best of the two. $15. Bonny Doon - 2000 "Beastly Old Vines" Cardinal Zin. Lucky me -- Cardinal Zin blessed me and absolved me of my "Zins", then poured me a taste of this to seal the deal. Two nuns and a monk were also pouring at this event. With a robust berry flavor, this is an easy to find wine that goes well with just about anything I have for dinner, but didn't stand out taste-wise. $20. - 2000 Originally Zin. With 35% sangiovese, and an overall grapey/fruity taste, the effect is more of a table red than a zinfandel. $?? Cline - 1997 Jacuzzi. I already knew I'd like this wine since I've had it, as well as all the other ones they were tasting, at least once before. Very complex, robust. $40? Cosentino - 2000 Lodi. This one is without notes. I recall is having a full-bodied berry taste. While I was tasting, a couple next to me proclaimed it (or their "The Zin"?) was the best wine at the Festival, better even than the Turley which they were quite pleased at having been able to taste before Turley ran out of wine and packed up their table. $TBD. Edmeades - 1998 Mendocino. All their wines are unfined and unfiltered. This one was spicy, with an anise taste in the back of your throat. $16. - 1999 Mendocino Ridge. Fruity with a peppery zest. $25. - * 2000 Late Harvest Alden Ranch Vineyard. This wine, with its smooth honey taste was one of my 6 favorite wines at the festival. $TBD. Fife - 2000 Mendocino Uplands. $17. - 2000 Whaler Vineyard. $20. - 2000 Old Vines. Overall, all three of these wines tasted very similar to me, with the fruity/berry taste being the most forward. They get major points though for being one of the few wineries that provided takeaway summaries of the wines they were tasting. $25. Fritz - 1999 Old Vine. I don't have notes on this wine since I came to this table right after being endlessly engaged in unwanted conversation by a gentleman who saw my note-taking as his entry into a conversation with me. I've had Fritz zinfandels several times, and will have to go back and try this one again. The literature at the table noted that it had fresh raspberry, black current and bright cherry flavors. $25. Karly Wines - 1999 Warrior Fires. This wine was getting a lot of buzz on the floor. A big berry taste, but it didn't grab me the way it did other attendees despite my being a fan of Karly wines. $24. Markham Vineyards - * 1999 Markham Vineyards, Napa Valley. I love their Merlot and was pleasantly surprised to see them here. The taste overall was sweet, with a marshmallow nose, a smooth mouthfeel, and a taste I can best describe as buttered popcorn. Yum! This was one of my 6 favorite wines at the festival. $17. Miner Family Vineyards - 2000 Miner Family Vineyards, Napa Valley. Smooth mouth feel with a minty taste. Would be best with a hearty dinner, or, as the marketing materials typically say for Zinfandels, "great for your next BBQ!" $25. Ridge - 2000 Lytton Springs Late Harvest. This was very tasty (I love late harvest zinfandels), smooth, spicy, and with a butterscotch tone to its sweetness. $TBD. - 2000 Dusi Ranch. Good as always, but with a grassy nose, this one was sharp and spicy and would taste a lot better with dinner than it did by itself here. $TBD. Rosenblum - 2000 Rockpile Rd. Tangy, dry. $25. - 2000 Eagle Point Vineyard. This was one of the barrel tastes they were pouring. Had a very green/herbal nose, with mint and butter tastes. $TBD. Price for one case of "futures" was $230.40. - * 2000 Lyons Vineyard. The 1999 Lyons Vineyard zinfandel was one of my favorite wines last year, and this was one of my 6 favorites at the festival. It was everything I'd want a luscious zinfandel to be -- and it came in a beautiful tall dark blue bottle with a golden lion on it. (Yes, I kept the bottle for decorative purposes.) The 2000 barrel taste (poured for me by none other than the winemaker, Kent Rosenblum!) showed it is again shaping up to be thick, rich, and luscious. If I had the cash, I'd buy the case of futures for this one. $35. Seven Lions Winery - 2000 Three Amigos Vineyard. Light and not as interesting as the other two. $38. - 2000 Poorman's Vineyard. Fruity, full-bodied, with a jammy, berry taste. $35. - * 2000 Joe & Emily's Vineyard. This was my favorite wine at the festival. A wonderful floral nose and a sweet fruity taste (peach?). I want a case of this! $60. Carol Shelton - * 2000 Wild Thing�, Cox Vineyard, Old Vines. This was my second favorite wine at the festival. Taking its name, as the winemaker told me when pouring, from the wild yeast used in the fermentation process, this wine had a heavenly nose. Though it overall seemed fairly light, had a distinct creme brulee/caramel taste. $28. - 2000 Monga� Zin. Another old vine zin, this one was robust and had a good berry taste, but was overshadowed, for me, by tasting the Wild Thing first. $24. Sierra Vista - 1999 Reeve's Vineyard. Tart and peppery. $16. - 1999 Herbert Vineyard. A nice berry taste that is somewhat overpowered by the tannins. Overall, I think the syrahs are what I like the most from this winery. $16. Sobon Estate - 2000 Fiddletown. Overwhelming sweet tarts taste. $24. - 1999 Rocky Top. Another old vine Zin, with a bubble gum taste. $15. Overall, neither of these two were as personally impressive as their primitivo. Sparrow Lane - 1999 Beatty Ranch, Howell Mountain. Rich, full mouthfeel. A little much to drink by itself, but would be excellent for setting out at a dinner party to accompany a hearty meal. $30. Storybook Mountain Vineyards - 2000 Mayacamas. The gentleman who poured said this was just released and had only been in the bottle for one and a half weeks. As such, the presence of strong tannins wasn't surprising. $TBD. Joseph Swan - 1998. Stellwagen. Nice berry notes, with a smokey taste and a hint of violets. $25. - 1998. Lone Redwood. Flat in comparison to the Stellwagen. In retrospect, since the table was being monopolized by 2 or 3 people who took up all the real estate, making it hard to get a glass poured, I should have tasted the Ziegler instead of this one. $25. Truchard - 2000 Truchard Estate, Carneros. Caramel nose, with an intense sweet cherry taste. $28. What I Would Have Tasted If they hadn't run out of wine before I got there, I would have tasted: David Bruce Gundlach Bundschu Turley Whew! I can't believe I tasted so much wine! The fact that I found so many of these wineries online foreshadows a big wine purchasing binge in my future. If nothing else, I may join Rosenblum's wine club so tasty bottles of wine will magically show up outside my door each month...Overall, the event was educational and fun, although the lack of etiquette by some festival attendees became irritating. For instance, people would stand at the front of a crowded tasting table for 5 or 10 minutes, and would not let others get their glasses in to taste. Stepping away from the table while savoring your wine is not such a hardship. I may sounds like an old fart for complaining about this, but it does really get on your nerves after an hour of such antics. Despite this minor irritation, I will be back again next year to see what surprises the winemakers have in store for me. Cheers. If you're not sick of reading about Zinfandel, The New York Times had reviews of some Zins on their site today. any comments? (0 so far) previous - next recently on almostgoldsf... in defense of an email box I came to do battle with SPAM - 2008-05-17 hello 2006 - 2005-12-31 Happy Thanksgiving - 2005-11-14 bon voyage - 2005-11-05 October already? - 2005-10-09