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And the usual blatherings from the bloody pulpit:
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The two old Ridges came from John & Adele Hopkins in my group. The
MonteBello, in its youth, was a typical MB Zinfandel; not particularly
attractive, rather on the hard & lean side, not the lush fruit of their
other Zins, that typical SantaCruzMtn dusty/earthy hardness to it. The
wine is still a bit hard & lean but has a beautiful elegant complexity
to it; a lovely old Zinfandel. I was very impressed w/ the LyttonSprings.
It still had some spicy raspberry fruit to it. The one I had in LosAngles
at the big Ridge vertical I thought was drying out & a bit tired. This
one was in far better shape, very soft & round & smooth on the
palate w/ no signs of astringincy or drying out on the palate.
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Preston Vnyds: Back in the mid-'80's, when Kevin Hamel first came on board
as winemaker at preston; they made some very impressive wines.... Zins,
Barberas, Sirah/Syrah and others. Thru the '90's, they seem to have lightened
up their style a lot; towards a more commercial/drinkable kind of wine.
They're good and very fairly priced, but I don't find them nearly as interesting
as they once were. This Barbera was a great example of that former style.
Most people in my group found it much too acidic. I liked it for exactly
that reason and, with food, think it would show much better. But with all
that acidity, I can only think it's going to develop some wonderful aromatics
over the yrs.
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Kempton Clark: This is a new procucer & I thought it showed a lot of
chutzpah to use such classy/up-scale packaging on a ...... Cucamonga Zinfandel.
Who'da thunk that Cucamonga could make such a tasty Zinfandel. The back
label is a little strange in that it rambles on a bit about the guy's love
for Zinfandel, Basque sheepherders, and their little lambies; totally irrevelant
to the wine in the bottle. But it was made up in Esparto (Dunnigan Hills/Yolo
County) area, hence the Basque connection. Interesting stuff.
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Toad Hollow: I've had some awfully nice-drinking wines over the yrs from
this wnry a great prices. It's owned by Todd Williams, whose brother Robin
has made sort of a name for himself in alternative endeavors. They have
an Apropos Pinot Noir that also very nice... and cheap. Good winery, neat
labels.
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Just got the Ojai Calif Syrah in the day before & couldn't wait to
expose it to my group. It seems not quite as big & lush as the '96
but it's still a pretty terrific Syrah; lots of SantaBarbara character.
It's gone up a few $$'s but, at $18, I think it's fairly priced. Another
success from Adam & Helen Tolmach.
TomHill
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