1999 Steele Pacini Zin

The 1998 Pacini Zin is the wine that got me hooked on Zin. We were at the Steele tasting room, and it wasn't even on the menu; it was a library wine that was close to being lost, so they were pouring it to see if they could sell some. I bought a case. A few months later I called the winery to ask if I could get any more; and they only had 8, so I rounded out the case with '99's. That was a year ago. At the time I had a vertical tasting of the '98 and the '99 and found the '98 superior; so I laid down the rest of the '99's until now.

Jed calls the Pacini "Old Vines"; the oldest vines in his vineyard are 67; with the median age probably slightly lower. Since "Old Vines" is not a regulated term, it's open to interpretation. I would call 50-80 year old vines "Mature" and 80-100 "Old" and anything older than a century "Ancient" - but again it's relative. The reason Older vines are sought after is that their lower yields concentrate flavour - and since the Pacini vineyard cannot be irrigated, the yields are closer to those you would get from 80 year old vines.

Now, most people would say an 8 year old Zin is pretty long in the tooth; and you would be right - except that Jed aquired this vineyard in '96 and the first few vintages by any winemaker tend to be overly tannic. The Pacini is no exception; and we all know the cure for too much tannin - let 'em age.

Enough of that. Let's open the wine.

The cork was chock full of sediment (as you would expect from a wine this old) but there was no slippage on the neck of the bottle, so it should have held up well. The tattoo that the cork left me was as dark and persistent as henna. The colour of the wine was that of dried blood - to be expected in an older wine, but a warning that I might have let it age too long.
The nose was of cassis - that's (currants in English but since it's French that makes it more posh). The swirl left twisted legs on my glass.
On the first taste there was toast and the pucker of tannin. If this was a Bordeaux grape I would say there's enough tannin to let it lie a couple more years.
At this point a slight toothache I'm having is distracting me from my sensory inputs - particularly taste and smell, but I did get rich berries on the finish.
I poured a glass to accompany dinner - cherry smoked Kobe ribs. I generally like Zins with bar-b-que, but I'm not sure if this was the best pairing, as it brought out an almost chemical taste, almost like lighter fluid, which is odd as I did not use lighter fluid to start the coals (but then again it could be that darn toothache).
Saragrace got a Bourbon taste - could be related to the toast I got initially.
Later that night I had a second glass, and my daughter popped a dot in my mouth (the candy) and wierdly - I got a smoked salmon taste. I found that interesting, so I stole a watermellon flavoured jelly-belly from my son and hot dogs on the palette. Again I'm suspect as between the fact that the kids had hot dogs for dinner and my toothache I don't trust it.

The presentation was ok. It came in a proper Zin bottle, stoppered with a real cork. The rear label gives no info, but the tasting notes give you a bit about the vineyard.

The Verdict:

I will drink my remaining bottles now, as each day from here on out is killing this wine.

Style:	Zinfandel
Varietals:	Zinfandel
Appellation/Terrior:	Mendocino, California
Vintage:	1999
Vintner:	Steele
Alcohol:	13% by Volume
Price:	$14.61