Tried these three older Zins last week:
1. Carlisle Zin GumTreeRanch RRV (15.7%; + PetiteSirah/AlicanteBouschet; 125 cs) SantaRosa 2000: Very dark/near black color w/ slight bricking; very interesting/complex strong boysenberry/ripe/Zin/spicy strong minty/eucalyptus some toasty/oak nose; fairly tart/tangy very strong eucalyptus/minty intense boysenberry/blackberry/ripe Zin/slight peppery strong Fr.oak/toasty complex flavor w/ light tangy tannins; very long/lingering intense minty/eucalyptus very strong boysenberry/ripe/Zin/bit spicy complex finish w/ light tannins; still in very good shape w/ no signs of going round the bend.
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2. Renwood Zin Fiddletown OldVine Eschen Vnyd (15%; 82 yr old vines; #2251 of 199 cs) ScottHarvey/Plymouth 1992: Soft/saturated very spongey cork that crumbles into smitherings; med. rather borwning color; rather musty/tired some alcoholic/late hrvsty earthy strong vanilla/oak rather old/tired nose w/ no fruit; soft very slight blackberry/Zin/late hrvsty fairly alcoholic/fumey strong vanilla/Am.oak pretty tired/cedary/pencilly/oldRed flavor w/ light tannins; still speaks a bit of Eschen Zin but pretty much dead & gone.
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3. TobinJames SolarFlair Zin LateHrvst PasoRobles (15.5%) 1990: Med.light quite browning color; very alcoholic/fumey quite raisened/pruney/overripe strong Am.oak slight boysenberry/Zin/very ripe some earthy/herbal/vegetal bit complex some intereting late hrvsty nose; soft quite sweet very raisened/pruney strongboysenberry/Zin/jammy/overripe/chocolaty rather vanilla/Am.oak classic PR/late hrvsty flavor w/ light tannins; actually rather interesting for that genre & not as old as I expected but not really enjoyable.
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More tobyslark from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Carlisle: The GumTree Zin was surrounded by eucalyptus trees that gave it that distinctive character it always showed. It was an old-vine vnyd that I believe was ripped to put in housing. This wine was a classic GumTree and in wonderful shape.
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2. The Chet Eschen vnyd in Fiddletown was a legendary old-vine Zin vnyd that produced many great wines from CarnerosCreek & Ridge wineries. It still exists & goes by the name of the Rinaldi Vnyd. I believe Bill Easton gets some of those grapes.
Tom