I’m curious how long good California Zinfandel can age for, such as Ridge and Turley? And is there a difference between their different offerings/vineyards?
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I had a 1998 Ridge Geyserville a month or two ago that was delicious. It had some aged Bordeaux characteristics but there was still a good core of Zin fruit.
From reading around, I think Ravenswood, Ridge, and Swan are thought to be good long run agers. Haven’t seen positive notes on older Turley but with the winemaking changes that may be different in 15 years.
A lot of folks think the more structured Bedrock wines (Bedrock, Teldeschi, Old Hill) will go the distance but the company is too young to really know.
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Sky Vineyards Estate Zinfandel can definitely age and their current main release is the 2015 bottling.
Like, how long were you thinking of letting them age?
Some of the best producers are Carlisle, Bedrock, Turley, Ridge, Once & Future Wine, Bucklin, Hartford Court, and etc.
Rafanelli is another producer.
-Al
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Count me as someone who thinks they can age very well too. I like all of the producers mentioned. But I would say it depends on what you want from your Zinfandel. The big, juicy, fruit forward expression becomes much more muted over time as mentioned upstream. I too think they take on something of a claret-like characteristic with age. So I drink them young and I age some as well since I like both styles.
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Well considering the godfather of Zin one Mr Joel Peterson has been releasing library vintages of Ravenswood going back 30+ years recently, I’d say that’s around the length they can age.
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I have had excellent Scherrer zinfandels at 20+ years of age.
@Rich_Brown should chime in here.
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Forgot about Scherrer (which makes really good Zinfandels and I’m glad they still make 375ML bottles) and yeah, he should definitely chime in here.
Ughhh. Do people actually drink Zinfandel?? 
Thanks Carlo! I’m traveling right now but would love to respond at some point. Although im pretty much totally aligned with @mmeyers 
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Is this the same Ravenswood that is $15 at the wine store?
Any Ravenswood in a store is likely a newer vintage and not the stuff Joel made years ago before selling the brand to Constellation.
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This.
We had a tasting of a big bunch of Ravenswood Zins from the 1990’s. Still going pretty strong.
As are Turleys and Rosenblums and Ridges.
Zin can definitely evolve - although I think the style of Zin they make today is pretty removed from the lighter, leaner, more structure-driven style the 1990’s wines seem to represent.
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Storybook Mountain makes Zinfandel that last, not much talk about them around here. I’ve had some amazing Zins from them with 20+ years. With age they go to that claret place that I like in a Zin.
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Just for grins I took a look at Winebid for older Zins. Over 100 from the 90s! Including large numbers of Swan and Turley, a few Ridge, and lots of other stuff about which I have no clue. Could be a fun and pretty inexpensive place to poke around. Any strong recommendations?
Not joking, maybe forever.
We routinely drink from the early 70s and they can show like a beautiful claret.
Look around for 1970-1973-ish Sutter Home from before the shark jumping commenced.
Ridge, the oldest Rafanelli you can find, on and on.
Very worth your time investigating!
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For $25 this is worth taking a chance on.
https://www.winebid.com/BuyWine/Item/9376988/1988-Howell-Mountain-Vineyards-Zinfandel
Those Elyse mags for $45 are probably a steal. Some are $30!
In the last 10 years or so, I had a 1977 and a 1978 Geyserville. Both were fascinating.
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Swan ages beautifully. Have only had a small number of them but they were great, including a mid 70s bottle at Bern’s a few years ago.
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I think the answer truly is that it depends on the producer and their style. I have had some older Turleys that were not that enjoyable in all honesty. I’ve had some older Zins that had very little zero Zin quality but we’re still quite enjoyable wines. The suggestions given here are pretty wonderful, but they’re certainly are exceptions.
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+1 to much of the above. See older Swan, Ridge, Ravenswood for many good examples.