TN: 2014 Limerick Lane 1023 (Zin/Syrah/Grenache)

I just don’t get it. They’re so damn good when they’re young!!

[media][Rich Brown on Instagram: "2014 Limerick Lane 1023, Sonoma County. A blend of zin, syrah, and grenache from (I believe) their finest blocks. Unfortunately, this wine was past its prime. It still had a hint of that nice deep/dark plummy fruit but the heat has taken over and the fruit is far in the background. Bummer. Another data point proving (to me) that the Limerick Lane wines drink much better in their youth and just don't age like i expected them to. Need to give away/drink through the rest of my 14's and get to the 15's stat (hopefully not too late for those). #zinfandelwine #zinfandel #syrahwine #grenache #sonomacounty #sonomawine"]

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It is weird – they don’t present like something that is going to go to the dark side in a few years, but that seems to be a pretty consistent observation around here.

Just drink them young, they are really delicious in their youth.

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Yep, that’s the move for sure! Catch the magic before it strangely fades away.

Shoot, I’m sitting on two '15s - guess I’ll crack one open tonight.

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Just this bottling… right? I’ve had plenty if success aging other LLs.

Let us know how they’re drinking! I might shift to the 15’s so I don’t miss the magic.

Unfortunately not. Looks like I’ve had 14 LL’s from 2013 and 2014 over the past couple years and I don’t think that I’ve enjoyed any of them more than I did closer to release. They just lose that ‘spark’ 4 to 5 years after release. Not sure why [shrug.gif]

I’ve found the zins seem to age well. Not sure they’re much better than on release but they def aren’t worse.

Yeah, I wish that was the case, but it just hasn’t been what I’ve experienced. Hell, even the PS wasn’t as exciting with age!

Glad you enjoyed yours, but I know many peeps here have had similar experiences to mine (so its not just me and my shitty palet, ha!). Oh well! I’m not a buyer anymore (price increases) but wouldn’t hesitate to snag/drink one young if the price was right. They’re special wines early on.

It just goes to show that wines change, and the change is not always inherently better or worse, it’s just different, and the difference may be more or less to the liking of a given individual.

90% of the time I’m on the side of more aging rather than less for wines of all types (and I kind of have to be because I have way too much wine and can’t drink it young), but I do think that extra special quality that LL wines have in their first few years is more interesting than what they seem to become after that.

Now, I haven’t had an old one, and maybe they go through a phase that I don’t admire as much and then arrive somewhere else that would be more to my liking? I don’t know. It’s certainly possible. And in any event, it’s still all subjective.

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If you have anymore bottles of this I’ll buy them from you.

Tom

Yep, you nailed it buddy! And I agree, i typically like a little age on my wines (including my zins)…but much prefer the LL’s young [cheers.gif]

As a matter of fact, I do! Happy to trade some wine with you my friend - let’s connect offline and figure it out.

So funny, as I’m usually the one telling you that you should age your zins more (Bedrock, Carlisle, etc) but you generally like them younger. LL is the anomaly in our zin world :wink:

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Here is my note from March of 2019.

Opaque purple in color. 15.2% ABV. 52% Zinfandel, 45% Syrah and 3% Grenache. Savory, Syrah dominant nose of black fruits, baking spices, leather and barbecued meats. Full bodied with mouth watering acidity. On the palate the bright Zinfandel fruit shines. Flavors of blackberry, raspberry liqueur, cherry pie and white pepper. The finish is long and seamless with discernible tannins. Compelling wine where the Zin and Syrah play different parts but blend so well. Best over the next 2-4 years. My rating: 95 points.

I either liked the wine better, it dropped off a cliff in the last two years or you had a bad bottle.

Tom

You’re proving my point my man! This wine was much better 2+ years ago. And for some addiitonal context, 1023 has historically been my favorite offering from LL.

Let’s figure out something to trade. I know you’ve got at least a couple wines in your cellar that I’d be interested in :wink:

I haven’t had the same experience. A recent 2014 1910 was a wow bottle.

Had one of my 2015 LL 1023s last night. Still drinking really nicely - no sure if they’ll experience a steep decline any time soon like the '14, but definitely recommend getting in there now for a really beautiful bottle.

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Great news - thanks Jonathan! I’ll crack one soon and report back. Thanks for the note!

Just pulled a bottle of the 2014 1910 Block. We’ll see how that one is doing.

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Nice David! I liked the 1910 i had a handful of months back more than this 1023 so looking forward to hearing you update.