Otis opened 6 California Zins on Saturday. I waited until later in the evening to try them and only got around to 3 of them. Surprisingly, I liked them all despite my recent post about Zins. I'm not sure I would go out and buy any of them at their pricepoints but they were mighty tasty. There was no detectable heat or unpleasant bitterness in any of them. These were the 3 that others recommended as the best of the lot:

1998 Renwood Grandpere- WS gave this 92 points. My score is only slightly lower. This dark red wine was sweet and fruity with smooth berry notes. Very nice finish in this balanced effort. 91 points.

1999 Ridge Pagani Ranch- From a famous 100 year old vineyard. This is a blend of 90% Zin, 7% alicote Bouschet and 3% Petite Sirah according to Otis. This full bodied wine had a muscular frame to carry the fruit. It had dry tannins and I noted plum and pepper nuances with only a slightly bitter but not unpleasant finish. 90 points.

1999 D-Cubed Howell Mountain- Another nice Zin. More elegant than the previous 2 wines. This wine is made in Napa and had dark fruit notes with lingering finish. 89-90 points.

VM

VM, I'm glad we were able to find some zins for you that you found pleasing to the palate. There are so many many different styles for this varietal, and I tried to cover off 6 of them.

After tasting them on Saturday night, I'd rank them in the following order (with style type in parantheses):

1) 2001 Sineann Old Vine (Washington - old vine fruit bomb)

2) 1998 Renwood "Grandpere" (Amador - jam sandwich)

3) 1999 D-Cubed Howell Mtn (Napa - mountain fruit)

4) 1999 Ridge Pagani Ranch (Santa Cruz - sleek and earthy)

5) 1998 Forchini Papa Nonno (Dry Creek - spicy and dusty)

6) 2000 Cosentino The Zin (Lodi - fruit forward plums and prunes)

I'd rate the first three between and 90-92P, the next three between 86-89P.

Cheers,

Otis