Paso Robles Zin Fest, Who's Coming?

WINE TALK
1

It’s next weekend, March 20-22, and it looks as though a few Berserkers plan to make it.

Linda, what will your station be next weekend? Are you barrel touring?

2

I’ll be there! Trying to get a plan together for which wineries to hit and where to eat… I have no idea how crowded it will be since I haven’t gone in a few years, but am looking forward to trying the 07s

3

I went last year - I thought it was very strange. A night wine event and it had seemed that all of the attendee’s were making a very uncomfortable attempt at showing off their cowboy duds for a classy night on the town.

I didn’t like it. It was waayyyyyy too crowded. Wayyyyy too stuffy. I guess it just wasn’t my scene. [shrug.gif]

4

We are having a brunch at the tasting room Saturday, and I assume I will be pouring at the tasting.

5

This will be the first time in 10 years Dana and I have missed Zin Fest. :frowning: This one of our favorite events, hanging out at the many wineries we have come to know over the past 15 years. The air is clean, the hills are green and the wineries put out a great spread for all to enjoy. We will be back next year.

6

My wife and I are DYING to make it up, but we can’t. Oy. We’re going up there at the end of May as it is. Can’t wait.

7

So no one else is coming to Zinfest? I know a lot of you are close enough to come. Come keep me company!

8

Zinfest no fun when no drinkee wine.

I’m hoping to make HdR.

9

Party poopers.

Now that I’m an accomplished videographer (cough:cough) I am going to film some weekend action. We’ll have a little cooking demo, a little wine drinking, some babalicious skin shots of the volunteers, a little more wine drinking, more grill action, a happy winemaker, more wine drinking …

[d_sunny.gif]

10

i guess my fivesome will be the only group on the course [cheers.gif]

11

I’ll be around…I visited Minassian-Young today…they were pouring a three year vertical of their estate zins…good stuff…I hope to visit Dover Canyon (pm to be sent Mary), Hug Cellars, and maybe Changala, who I haven’t visited yet…the ones I would suggest visiting for zin (drawing from my extensive Paso zin experience :wink: ) would be:

Anglim
Dover Canyon
Dunning
Four Vines
Hug Cellars
Maloy O’Neil
Minassian-Young
Nadeau Family
Peachy Canyon (that brunch looks like fun Linda)
Pipestone
Tolo
Turley
Villicana

I’ll be skipping the tasting on Sat. night for the second year in a row…they seem to keep increasing the number of tickets sold, but holding the event in the same space…I’ve enjoyed it in the past but now that I’ve been, I don’t need to go again

12

Would be fun to be at, but I am up in SF at Rhone Rangers . . . . is it NOT possible to look at calendars and make sure there is NO OVERLAP with major events?!?!?!? This absolutely kills me . . .

Mary, do they still MAKE Zin in Paso? I wouldn’t know because I haven’t seen ANY ratings for these in the past 3 or 4 years [foilhat.gif]

Have a great time! Cheers!

13

Thanks, Larry! Wish you could be here, and yes it kills me too that event organizers seem to have no awareness of conflicting demands on wineries … duh.

I think Parker has completely lost interest in Paso zins? [shrug.gif] I brought it up on the eBob board but got no answer … was '04 or '05 the last vintage he reviewed? 2004. Because I remember the release of our first estate zins were '05–we were asked to submit, but then he skipped the region and variety altogether. I think that was the winter he had back surgery, but there was no later update on those submissions (all the wineries here submitted their zins, not just us, so that is like, a pallet-worth of wine…). And no arrangements/announcements for submissions since then. Napa’s Turley got a review of their Dusi/Ueberroth/Pesenti zins … but all the local wineries who work with these vineyards did not. I guess with the pressure for more worldwide coverage, we have once again become a brown dwarf in the wine universe? Strangely, I don’t seem to mind! [cheers.gif] [berserker.gif]

14

Mary,

I remember the thread - and the follow up email you sent me . . . the impetus for me bringing this back up [cheers.gif]

With all due respect, I have no idea how RP reviews all of the CA wines he does . . . especially with the explosive growth of labels from places like CrushPad . . .

There were quite a few labels that were not reviewed during his CA rhone issue from down here - including labels that had scored very nicely in previous years. I’m really not sure what happened, and he’s never been ‘accessible’ re: why he rates what he does and why he does NOT rate others (and granted, he really does NOT have to justify his decisions).

That said, I would email or PM him directly if you have not already done so. My gut feel is that with a backlog of ‘never reviewed wines’, he might have a concrete explanation for why . . . .

And please talk with your regional alliance about looking at a calendar next time, eh???

Cheers!

15

We cancelled the brunch due to low ticket sales. I have heard the tasting ticket sales are down this year, too. Sign 'o the times, I guess. Too bad, because the brunch we did last year was awesome. Damn.

16

Larry, the Zinfandel Festival has always been the third weekend of March … for 17 years now … I think the Rhone Rangers are the ones who need to get a clue? Love 'em both, but we have been releasing our new zins on this date for 10 years now …

As for Parker, I am curious as to why he would neglect an entire CA region/variety, but not desperate to know … perhaps it’s something he feels he only needs to visit every few years now. We miss his input, and his reviews of our wines were always very complimentary, but the foodie crowd (food magazines and some FoodTv chefs) have given us great exposure that seems to appeal to a wider demographic.

17

In this economy, I’m guessing there will be plenty of elbow room.

18

[give_heart.gif] [friends.gif]

19

A little drinking?? What type of wine fest is this without BAC topping 0.6 each.

Feel free to post
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20

Sorry, Jeff, it rained and the girls were swathed in wool. Oh well.

It’s a good thing Linda and Milos showed up yesterday or I would have been lonely! [berserker.gif]