Reliability of Aged Zin

Hi everyone- Curious what your experience is with the aging curve of Zinfandel and Zinfandel-based blends. I usually go for wine on the lighter refined side, but I’ve got a big soft spot for heritage Zinfandel, and the TNs on the “Ravenswood Library Offer” thread has me very curious to taste some aged bottles. I’ve only had an older Zin once, a 1995 Frog’s Leap in 2019. It was ok, but definitely past peak- not a buy-again wine.

For those of you who enjoy these wines regularly, what sort of producers/age do you look for? The Ravenswood thread has lots of great tasting notes, but these are mostly perfectly stored library bottles. I’m talking about normal secondary market stuff. I’d love to get a few bottles, but don’t want to end up with just a bunch of over the hill stuff with little merit other than being an unusual old Zin. I’d like to have a good drinking experience too.

Producers I’ve been eyeing are the classics like Ridge, Swan, Ravenswood. Vintages I’ve been thinking of trying are late 80s to late 90s. But what would you all recommend? Thanks!

Absolutely Swan and Ridge. I’ve had great luck with Ridge Zins from the late 80’s on Winebid, just using the same general rules I would when purchasing any aged wine through that platform. Maybe some old Martini ones from Monte Rosso if you can find them, though no personal experience there

We did a massive Zins of our Fathers’ tasting a few years ago. These included wines from the seventies and eighties, and most of the good producers. The sad conclusion was that almost all the wines were past it with the notable exceptions of Joe Swann and Ridge.

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The caveat is that Zin, as it ages, becomes less “Zin-like.” The bright berry characteristics fade back, as does the spice component, but they can be very enjoyable and interesting.
Though I have less experience with them than some here, my best bets would include:
Ridge
Ravenswood (Joel era)
Carlisle
Bedrock
Scherrer (library sale every year is a great opportunity)
Biale
Easton (many vintages available from the winery)
Turley (esp. Kirschenmann, Duarte, Hayne, but I’d be comfortable aging any Tegan-era Turley)
Bucklin

It very much depends on how the wines are made. Doug Nalle’s zins age effortlessly. Swan the same. Storybook also. Many Ravenswood zins from the 80s. They are balanced, have bright acids and are not over oaked. Late picked, highly extracted zins that may delight in their youth are not candidates for the cellar.

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I am probably in the minority here, but the odds are against you with old zinfandel. I’ve had many. While there were a few that were really good, the overhwelming majority (as in almost all) were in pretty sad shape. Additionally, I find a lot of old zins develop a burning tire odor (mercaptans?) which I find distinctly unpleasant. These wines are so terrific young and even with 6-10 years (Ridge Geyservill for example) that I don’t see any reason to keep them >10 years. Cheers.

I would look for some aged Scherrer Shale Terrace. My experience is limited, but they seem to be hitting their stride around age 15, with the ability to go much longer. Scherrer does some library releases. It might be worth signing up for their email list.

Rafanelli is another producer whose zinfandels often age well.

-Al

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I’ve recently gone through close to a case of Ravenswood Zins, mixed cuvees and vintages back to 1987. Library release. The hit rate was quite high, and many were excellent.

Did have the Turley Dogtown from 1997 not that long ago, and it was still there. Def on the decline, but not past. I keep banging on about the Fields Family 2014, and that was just crazy good - just perfect. So maybe 10 years is about right.

Although not a fan of Zin personally, about 20 years ago I was invited to a tasting of Ridge Zins from the ‘60’s. I don’t recall details but of the ten or so we tried the consensus was that they all tasted more like Claret than Zin. All were sound and, to some degree, of interest but they all seemed to have lost any distinct Zinfandel typicity. Of course, they were all past 30, so . . .

that’s basically my view/experience too.

Sounds about right, Steve. Not a fan of overly aged zin.

Great discussion, as im a big fan of aged Zinfandel! I agree with most that older zin can be a bit more hit/miss than other varieties, but if you focus on provenance and producer you can get some great wines for solid prices. As others mentioned, often times aged zin can take on more older cab/claret notes. Leather, tobacco, etc. But you can also run into complete surprises where the fruit is still shining/front and center. For example, I popped a 1980 Nevada City Winery Zinfandel (who dat, right??) from Sierra Foothills a couple years ago with zero expectations and it was incredible! Cranberry, cherry, baking spice. Literally one of my WOTY.

So in short, it looks to have been stored well, you (ideally) know the producer and/or Vineyard (Vineyard matters as well IMHO), and the price is right, you should 1000% explore. [cheers.gif]

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of the Ridge zins, Geyserville and Lytton springs are the most age worthy and can last 20-25 years though more claret style

Agree entirely and have noted this often. The wines are often still ‘enjoyable’ but just not ‘zin-like’.

Cheers.

The pronounced, aged tobacco notes on my mature Ravenswood Zins blew me away. Every single one showed it. Love that in a wine. Must be a Cuban thang…. :wink:

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I opened a 2003 Turley Juvenile Zin purchased from Winebid last night and it was not quite dead but not much life left. Soft and pruney with no acid or tannin left. Gave it two glasses over three hours and abandoned ship. Tried again today but it is gone. Oh well.

My drinking window for zins is 5-7 years. After having some of the older Ravenswood I am trying to stash a few here and there to age longer but realistically will not have the space to store large quantities of zin long term. Yes they can and will age, the question is what you want out of them by aging.

An old thread resurfaced recently on aged Zin. Look for it. I posted something about an old Zin tasting we did. Long-time wine geeks, many of which had been buying since the '50s, '60s or '70s. The point was to bring something good, so everyone made their best bets with what they brought from their cellars. Vintages spanned '35 to '82, with most being from the '60s and '70s. Quite a few different producers (don’t recall more than one from any winery). Maybe a couple duds, a few were mediocre, the majority were impressive or better.

More recently, we’d made some Mendocino Ridge OV Zin from Zeni Ranch. I managed to find some Edmeades vintages from there, and the couple I’ve opened have been impressive. So, that’s another producer to add to your list, as they do show up occasionally. No reason to just look for Zeni - that was my mission.