3 Zin challenge

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I concur on these selections, especially the Biale. I've been nursing my allocation of the Black Chicken, Aldo's, and Grande sv's, and recently tasted the Spinker and Dogtown Flats ? from the '02. All excellent.

The idea of finding the terroir in Zins is a great one. I attended a tasting some years back with just that theme and it was an "eye-opener" for me, at least.

I also agree with your later post in this thread re: recent Turleys. I happen to be a big fan of heavily extracted Zins, but appreciate their more recent offerings, especially the '01 & '02 Duarte. That said, there are very few Zins that I cannot find something to love in. Out of a half-dozen ZAP events, I have only encountered 1, that I did not enjoy, and I tasted as many as the event's time permitted.

I also agree with Ed's recent accessment of Ravenswood. We just did a dinner with Ravenswood, and there was less to really get into, than in years past. Maybe the corporate thing has not been as kind to them, as some would have hoped. The sv offerings were still good, but too much of what was served was just average Zin.

Almost all of the sv Rosenblums are very good, and worth sorting through a dozen, or so Rosenblum labels.

Thanks for the tip on K&L. I'll call "uncle" Ralph tomorrow and see what he's got around. Can't ship it until it cools off a bit in AZ, but I may be out to pick it up, as I need to clean out my locker in Napa anyway.

Hunt