-- popped, decanted, and poured --
-- tasted non-blind --
-- consumed over 4 hours --

NOSE: This is a very peppery zin with a thick sheet of taragon as the canvas for the brooding aromas of blueberry and bright blackberry that sit in the background. After a few hours a spearmint/citrus oil hint of V/A starts to come forward -- taragon still dominates, however.

BODY: dirty garnet color of moderate depth; incredibly fine particulate matter is suspended in the wine; medium bodied.

TASTE: Upon first sip, and throughout, I was pleased to find this to be more tannic than all of Turley's Paso-based '05 Zins. Although this wine is just a bit too tannic to be perfectly balanced, a nice dose of acidity makes this much more "Turley" than many other '05 Turleys. As far as flavors go, this wine features flavors of black pepper and plum, as well as a lingering sense of cigarbox. The attack is full-on, but the palate gradually weakens from front to back, ending with a short finish. This wine does wear its 15% abv quite well, as the alcohol wasn't noticeable on the palate. Behind the Ueberroth, this is my favorite '05 Turley.

B: 50, 5, 12, 16, 7 = 90

Sounds like one I will not open for awhile. I have plenty of the 2004 to get through before I will pop this one. Thanks for taking the tannic hit for the greater good.

Ray,

Of all the '05 Turleys I've tasted (many) only the Cedarman and the Atlas Peak - Mead Ranch would I describe as "tannic." I have not tasted the Dragon, but suspect that may be on the tannic side as well. I would sit on the Cedarman for a couple more years before popping.