TN: DeLoach Zin RRV '87...(short/boring)

As I was rummaging in the archives, I stumbled across this wine:

  1. DeLoachVnyds Zin RRV (EB; 13.8%; SaH: 23.6 Brix, TA: 0.88%; 3460 cs) Cecil & Christine DeLoach 1987: Very dark rather brown color; rather oxidized/tired quite cedary/pencilly/Am.oak/old Red slight blackberry/Zin/spicy nose; very tart/metallic/tired/dried out quite cedary/pencilly/oldZin very vanilla/Am.oak slight peppery/blackberry/Zin flavor w/ light metallic/astringent/tired tannins; still speaks some of RRV Zin but pretty much a dead Zin. $7.40 (K)

A wee BloodyPulpit:

  1. I have, of course, followed DeLoachVnyds from the very start. Cecil & Christine DeLoach bought the old BarbeiriRanch in the RRV in 1970 whilst Cecil was a fireman down in SanFrancisco. They released this first wine under the DeLoach label in the mid-'70’s from their Estate & I was immediately impressed by it. They went on to release several vnyd-designate Zins in the late '70’s, including Gambooghi and Pelletti (now Carlisle vnyd). In 2003, they sold DeLoach to Jean-Claude Boisset. Then then went on to found down the road the Hook&Ladder Wnry, in honor of his firefighting background.
    Their grandson is the H&L winemaker. I’ve not tried many of the H&L wines.
    Tom
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Thanks for the TN, Tom!!!

A 1987 DeLoach Zin tasted in 2021?!?

That bottle must have been tucked behind the butter churn, Tom!

neener

Cecil managed to hang onto the Gambogi vineyard. Does anybody know its exact location?

I thought it was located on the north side of Henry Ln which runs east from Willowside Rd. This is on the other side of Willowside just north of Carlisle vineyard.

A recent drive-by of that vineyard on Henry Ln shows unpicked fruit from fall 2020 which isn’t that surprising given the smoke from the Walbridge fire, but it also hasn’t been pruned this spring, which would be surprising if this is actually the Gambogi vineyard. Buds are pushing out of last years canes.


According to CT Hook and Ladder did make a 2018 Gambogi. It’s a wine club only wine so it’s not on the website, but it’s puzzling that there’s no mention of the Gambogi vineyard on the website.

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