There are four producers that I buy from every year – Ridge, Carlisle, Rafanelli and Turley. Others that I enjoy include Bedrock, Seghesio, and Dry Creek.
Thanks,
Ed
Joe - Ridge isn’t usually a hit you on the head wine. But you can age some of them for 20 or more years and they become really interesting.
Ravenswood has a number of vineyard designated wines. Some are pretty good, some so-so. The Teldeschi is always a good buy IMO, although sometimes it doesn’t seem like Zin so much as I don’t know what other than just good wine. Can be pretty tannic.
Seghesio too - their basic bottle doesn’t do much for me, but they do some better ones that are still great deals, if more expensive than some.
Turley is Turley - big, jammy, hot. Drink them young because I’ve yet to have one that improves with any time in the bottle.
There used to be one called Rocking Horse that was pretty good but they’re done with now.
Brown was also a pretty decent one - fairly well balanced and not too jammy but I haven’t had it for a number of years now.
There were a few from Napa and I think Napa is a fantastic spot for Zin, maybe one of the best, but people want Cab so most of those vines are gone. But an inexpensive wine was Fly By Nite by Downing - not hot, jammy, or over the top, but again, balanced and good. Fife used to make an Old Vines Zin that was also from Napa, not sure if they still make it as I haven’t seen it for a few years.
Dashe is another good producer and he’s got an interesting one called l’Enfant Terrible - I wouldn’t hesitate serving that to any wine lover. Don’t tell them it’s Zin and you’ll avoid all preconceptions.
Joseph Swan Mancini Ranch was pretty tasty in an old world style.
Carlisle is #1 in my book, I suppose that’s a cliche but so what. Also a big fan of Ridge and happy to pick up a few Turley when I pass through Paso every few years.
Storybook Mountain has not yet been mentioned in this thread but in my experience has been superior to Nalle in that more Claret style. I haven’t had one in a few years, admittedly, but previous vintages of the Estate Reserve have been superb.
Ottomino has a nice midpriced lineup worth seeking out.
Radio-Coteau is getting back in the Zin game and I’m looking forward to trying those at some point although they are on the pricey side.
I’ve had spectacular bottles and just plain good bottles of Williams-Selyem and Outpost and am probably done buying both as insufficient QPRs and because I’m shifting towards old world wines. The Outpost Zin has a gingerbread note to its terroir.
Its interesting that there the only real consensus seems to be Bedrock and Carlisle all the others have lover and haters
Alan - a curious interpretation of the thread. My reading scores things differently.
So far 8 mentions of Bedrock. 8 mentions of Carlisle. 12 mentions of Ridge.
I’ll mildly dissent from the consensus on Bedrock. Great story, great guy, but the wines aren’t all the way there yet. Too many with a metallic, medicinal flavor that is sometimes interesting but more often a bit offputting. I think they’re substantially stronger on white, rose and their few cab / cab blend wines than they are with the zins and zin blends. It may be, though, that with more age (a lot of his wines were released extremely early) the wines will prove to me to be what I think many others already believe?
For me, I’d make the clear top three (in no particular order):
Turley
Carlisle
Ridge
After that, there are a lot of good producers, but some just make a small amount of zin as a secondary project, and others are good but inconsistent, and others I just haven’t been down the road enough to quite say. To me, Turley, Carlisle and Ridge are the A listers.
Tops in my cellar are:
Carlisle
Bedrock
Turley
Ridge
Ravenswood
Biale
Bucklin
Swan
I’ll also give props to Dashe, Nalle, Scherrer, but there’s only so much I can follow.
Scherrer, Ridge
We need an actual poll. List the ten most mentioned on this thread then ask people to pick three.
Easily Bedrock #1, then Carlisle, Mazzocco and Turley.
Bedrock, Scherrer and Carlisle, as others mentioned. But I’d also add Benovia, which is more known for the pinots but makes a very tasty zin.
Limiting myself to those with which I actually have some experience, I would say:
Ridge
Turley
Storybook Mountain
Seghesio rarely does it for me for some reason. Storybook is just so elegant but packed with character.
Hartford should also get an honorable mention I think. Their Dina’s vineyard kills it.
My favorites are Carlisle, Ridge, and Outpost. Two others I have very limited experience with, but really enjoyed are Cabot (2003 Klamath Zin) and Porter Creek (2009 Old Vines Zin).
What happened to Green and Red? I have not had one in years due to lack of local distribution but loved them back when I could get them which was probably late 90s through mid 00s.
Yes but Ridge has some haters, not so much for the other two
Hater is a bit harsh. I just dont enjoy it. I am still going to buy a few that i have not tried but i think the style isnt right for me.
Ridge
Carlisle
Biale
Green & Red
Hard to believe I wasn’t getting wines from Carlisle until now but I went through a long phase where I only drank zin a few times a year. Not anymore. I’ve had numerous Carlisle’s over the year at tastings and they rank high for me, as does their syrah. I think the syrah’s are really special, the Carlisle Viny 2001 was probably the greatest domestic syrah I’ve tasted yet, at least to my palate.
Carlisle
Ridge
Bedrock (too new on the list to make a better assessment but like everything so far, great winemaking, and the newly released SB is killer)
Dry Creek
Turley
Martinelli
I can’t believe Plungerhead hasn’t been mentioned.