I had an opportunity to taste the new Zin release from Orin Swift (The
Prisoner, Mercurey Head, Pappillon) made by Dave Phinney. The fruit
is sourced from virtually every major Zin area in California and from
many famous Zin producing vineyards. It's a blend of 85% zin, 10%
syrah and 5% petite syrah. This is a big wine, quite juicy and ripe
with a fair amount of new oak but it seemed very well balanced and had
enough heritage zin flavors to remind me of what I used to like about
zin. A bit of wild berry and peppery spice. It's priced at between
$25-$30 and it's a lot of wine for the price. It needs a little time
to come together but I would drink it fairly young to enjoy the ripe
fruity character. "B+/A-"

In article
>,
"Bi!!" > wrote:

> I had an opportunity to taste the new Zin release from Orin Swift (The
> Prisoner, Mercurey Head, Pappillon) made by Dave Phinney. The fruit
> is sourced from virtually every major Zin area in California and from
> many famous Zin producing vineyards. It's a blend of 85% zin, 10%
> syrah and 5% petite syrah. This is a big wine, quite juicy and ripe
> with a fair amount of new oak but it seemed very well balanced and had
> enough heritage zin flavors to remind me of what I used to like about
> zin. A bit of wild berry and peppery spice. It's priced at between
> $25-$30 and it's a lot of wine for the price. It needs a little time
> to come together but I would drink it fairly young to enjoy the ripe
> fruity character. "B+/A-"

I have three bottles and I thought I would hold them a while. Maybe not.

On Apr 14, 12:48�pm, Lawrence Leichtman > wrote:
> In article
> >,
>
> �"Bi!!" > wrote:
> > I had an opportunity to taste the new Zin release from Orin Swift (The
> > Prisoner, Mercurey Head, Pappillon) made by Dave Phinney. �The fruit
> > is sourced from virtually every major Zin area in California and from
> > many famous Zin producing vineyards. �It's a blend of 85% zin, 10%
> > syrah and 5% petite syrah. �This is a big wine, quite juicy and ripe
> > with a fair amount of new oak but it seemed very well balanced and had
> > enough heritage zin flavors to remind me of what I used to like about
> > zin. �A bit of wild berry and peppery spice. �It's priced at between
> > $25-$30 and it's a lot of wine for the price. It needs a little time
> > to come together but I would drink it fairly young to enjoy the ripe
> > fruity character. "B+/A-"
>
> I have three bottles and I thought I would hold them a while. Maybe not.

It's tough call. If you like the fresh deep ripe fruit character that
many Zinfandel's have then I would opt for drinking now. It's big but
balanced. I will probably drink a few over the next year then sit on
the remaining bottles for a few years. I think of it as a good BBQ or
grilling wine. Good with smoked pork ribs or grilled chicken and
steak.