TN: 1981 Sausal Winery Zinfandel Family (USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley)

WINE TALK
1

I drank this bottle with Brig this past week. So, perhaps he can add his notes and impressions. I found this bottle on Winebid and decided to open it. I think I paid around $30 and I had no idea as to how it would show. In the end, this shined and was really a nice surprise. For anyone who may be interested, there is some more of it over on Winebid this week for $20, I think. I’m done buying and shipping now for a while so have it but you can take my testimony on this wine, as if this current offer was stored well, this is a really cool bottle of Zin and a nice convo piece at over 35 years old. Thanks for reading.

  • 1981 Sausal Winery Zinfandel Family - USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley (6/23/2017)
    35 years old? This drank like a wine made in the last decade, with freshness, acidity and very little signs to me that this had any big time age on it. What a pleasure to drink, showing some nice balance and remaining acidity. Terrific.

Posted from CellarTracker

2

Great note Frank - thanks! Old Zins can certainly be a pleasure and a revelation!

3

That was a really fun bottle. The label was pristine. The wine was acid driven and surprisingly youthful.

Could go another 30 years.

4

Thanks for the trip down memory lane Frank. Drank a lot of Sausal Zins back in the day and even visited the winery at one point in the '80’s. Loved the wines back then but haven’t had one since.
[cheers.gif]

5

Thanks for the note Frank. I always made it a point to stop by when in the area and the wines were always very good to great. The 1980 Private Reserve was exceptional and the Century Vines were almost always great. The standard bottling was always a great value. So sad to see the winery sold and vineyard pulled and replanted to Cab I believe.

6

BTW, sold to Silver Oak.

7

^^^

That’s like being attacked by the Death Star. So sad.

8

So, I opened a bottle of this last night after snatching some off WB on Frank’s recommendation. Frank- you were right on. What a great experience.
As Brig pointed out- Pristine label and bottle and the wine…such a vibrant and full color. Drank more like an aged Claret than Zin. And no sign of falling off!
I called it a Bern’s bottle, as that’s usually where I’ve had wonderful surprises like this.
Thanks for the heads up, Frank!

9

Dennis, good for you…glad that Brig and I could offer a tip. In looking at Wine Bid today, the older Zin has dried up (actually, a lot of Wine Bid is dried up now for things of interest, to at least my wallet). Some of the older Zin stuff is hit, some miss. That Sausal turned out to be a hit.