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Sunday, the day after...
by califusa, Left
Coast Correspondent to the Gang of Pour I rolled out of bed Sunday morning, thankful that the floor was only a short distance away, vaguely remembering yesterday’s grand event. I slowly took inventory of my body systems: central nervous and gastrointestinal immediately registered their toxic imbalance, with endocrine not very far behind. I nudged 9 Ball, comatose next to me - well, er, back on the bed, and asked the obvious question: what shall we do today to recover from our zindulgences of yesterday? The answer was equally obvious: WINE !!!
Had not Bacchus hisself invited us to partake? Would this not be the Mother of All Offlines? Were not the 49ers out of the picture so Super Bowl Sunday had no meaning for us? Yes, Yes, and YES!! Fortified by Tylenol, aspirin, Advil, Excedrin and Maalox, we took to the road. Destination: the Tuscan Inn on Fisherman’s Wharf, where a private room had been reserved, food prepared, wines selected, and invitations offered to many I knew only by moniker. I had met Bacchus briefly at the Saturday tasting - he stopped by to purchase the mixed cases of Zinfandel ZAP was selling - so I knew who to look for, but I did not know what to expect. What followed was one of the most enjoyable and delightful wine experiences I have ever had.
Russell, very much the host, greeted us and introduced us to Victoria, oriented us to the room, provided us with nametags, made sure we had glasses, and something to put in them. We spent the first hour tasting a few bottles that were open, introducing ourselves to other guests, and lubricating our palates. Next was a guided tasting through four wines - knowledgeable tasters had generously provided three bottles each of four different wines, so that each of us (forty or so) would have a taste of the one being analyzed. This turned out to be a most enlightening exercise - everybody tasting the wine under discussion.
The first of these wines was the 1994 St. Francis Pagani Reserve. The consensus seemed to be that it had lost the vibrant, appealing fruit of its youth, and was not likely to come back into balance. Mostly oak was left, and little of what had made this wine so special.
Next was Milan in Santa Cruz, who talked us through his Thunder Mountain 1992 Zinfandel Dusi Ranch - a limited production wine that was not offered commercially. This was a great talk by Milan (a most elegant gentleman), who described the entire winemaking process, including decision making, fermentation, cellar treatment, barrel handling, etc. Very entertaining, and very interesting and educational.
Next was the 1996 DeLoach Estate Zinfandel, as described by the erudite and knowledgeable Tom Hill. It shows the flashy, forward fruit that Cecil gets in his Zins, but seems to have a bit more structure and may be a better candidate for midterm aging than the past few vintages have been. Very nice balance and very easy to drink. Unfortunately, there was "no damned dust".
Rodsh then walked us through the 1995 Joseph Swan Frati Ranch - this was a BIG wine with forward oak and huge fruit, all in good balance. A firm acid backbone suggests this is a good candidate for aging, and one taster thought it would still be tasting great 10 and 20 years from now. The next wine was from Tom, whose moniker is zinwine. This was a sample of his home effort, a barrel sample of the 1997 Alexander Valley from a one acre 40 year old vineyard of head trained vines, half Zin, and half Petite Sirah - a Mom & Pop operation. Lush fruit, and very promising.
Too many other Zins to comment on, but they included
the 1995 Spenker Estate from Lodi; 1994
Rafaneli; 1995 Peachy Canyon Eastside; 1980 Buehler Napa (a slap in the face to those who say Zinfandel
can’t age); 1981 Buehler Napa (a pat on the back to
those who say Zinfandel can’t age); 1984 Joseph Swan Sonoma;
1986 Ridge Park-Muscatine; 1995 Rabbit
Ridge Winemaker’s Grand Reserve; 1994 and 1995 Lolonis
Private Reserve; 1993 Ravenswood Monte Rosso; 1991 Storybook Mountain Estate Reserve... and then we opened some
really good wine !! Oh yeah, we watched the Super Bowl.
What made this day special, however, was not the wines - it was the people. Two of our board friends took some of the extra food, and went out onto the streets of the City looking for less fortunate folks to share in our bounty. The grace and generosity of Bacchus and Victoria, the endless smile of Saaz, the wine wisdom of Tom Hill, the contagious exuberance of Judson Byrn, wilwine’s Pack loyalty, Milan’s eloquence - all of these folks, and all the others there, whose names and contributions were blurred in my zinhaze - all of them contributed to what was a unique day of celebration and fellowship.
It may have been the love of wine that drew us together, but there was a common thread in the human spirit that wove a web of friendship that day, and made this a wine event that I will never forget. Eat, drink and be merry...indeed. Thanks, Bacchus.
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