At this year's ZAP, the 20th annual festival of all things Zin, I sought out new winemakers and old vines. Which was sometimes old winemakers with a new label, and occasionally, old vines being worked on by a new winemaker, or a fairly new winemaker doing something new with old vines. And I wanted to taste the Zin-based blends: featured at separate tables this year. Thanks to the ZAP program, the event was sliced by appellation, price range, old vines, vineyard designates, wines made by women: even winemaker’s hair color. So many fun ways to cut this slightly nutty, rum soaked fruitcake.First, the absolute talk of the town was Vittorio’s Secret, a righteously decadent in its own right Zin blend from old vine Mendocino Zin (63%), Petite Sirah (19%) and Carignane (18%), crafted by Bob Klindt of Claudia Springs. Klindt delights in finding new sources of fruit so he can make his wife, Claudia, bite her nails even further into the quick wondering how they are going to pay to bottle the stuff they already have in barrels. But he could not resist this intensely flavored, lush tasting fruit, from a Redwood Valley vineyard planted over 50 years ago by an Italian immigrant named Vittorio Testa. Bob turned this seductive field blend into a rich, velvet-textured wine that has everything you want in a Zin and then some. Its enormous raspberry aromas tease: the boysenberry, licorice and dark chocolate flavors please. The finish is as long as the list of excuses for not leaving ZAP early. If you can wait for the thing to finish before you actually take the next sip, you will be rewarded with a lovely soft pillow of Peet’s coffee with a hit of caramel syrup. This was among the most memorable, and affordable wines of the day. At $38, it will delight with yet to be revealed secrets for years to come. (claudiasprings.com)Grey Wolf’s Joe Barton has been around the ZAP merry-go-round a dozen and half times already. He’s learned how to make a stable of fine Zins from the excellent choice of Paso vineyards he has to select from: for the 09 Big Bad Wolf, he hit the Adelaida Road area, picking from Herska and Gravity Hill, both of which have head-trained, dry-farmed vines. There’s bigness here, but sorry, no badness. The acidity is huge and muzzles the just ripe and not a bit over fruit, to create a divinely spicy, earthy and well-behaved wolfhound of a wine. You’ll want this one sitting beside your rocker on the front porch on a chilly afternoon as you watch the sun go golden in the west.A brand new lady winemaker to me, Gia Passalcqua, caught my fancy with her Dancing Lady label. The fact it was clearly a family affair also made me stop, as she was flanked by her Mom and Dad. This is a 4th generation farming family with a vineyard in Alexander Valley that her great grandfather bought after he arrived from Genoa and made some money. “He sold a few vegetables, well, more than a few, to buy the land,” said Gia. The Della Costa vineyard is planted with 100 plus year old head-trained Zin vines. She uses only 20% new French oak. The 2008 Dancing Lady is as dark, dense and entrancing as a midnight masked ball, where the ladies where Prussian blue velvet gowns and black satin gloves up over their elbows. This is silken smooth but muscular, and has that classic Zin “I knew you were waiting for this” finish. (dancingladywines.com)Chateau Montelena (Calistoga) got some pretty good scores from Connoisseur’s Guide, so I threaded my way through the line to meet Matt Crafton, assistant winemaker, who cheerfully poured me a vertical, beginning with the 2006, which revealed a whop of black pepper like you hit the glass with a baseball bat-sized grinder. Wow! Its firm tannins and approachable, almost Cab like texture, promise further aging. The 2007 is as tightly wound as a greyhound in the starting gate, with visions of rabbits dancing in its head. The flavors are of darkly toasted rye bread. The 2008 is a baby loaf of rye, with lots of dill and caraway, and a flash of clove. I found them intriguingly restrained.On to C. G. D’Arie’s lineup from Amador County. For a name that is nigh impossible to pronounce or remember, there was quite the crowd gathering. These are some interesting ducks. The 2006 from Shendandoah Valley bursts with bright cranberry, sausage and peppers, while the 2006 Southern Exposure, also from Shenandoah, delivered seriously earthy, meat flavors, with a lovely finish of cherry brandy and a very fine Macanudo cigar. Truly lovely at $30. The wine of which C.G seemed most proudly glowing was the 2008 “American Legend,” from a single vineyard farmed by Frank Gunther in Amador County. He described it as more like Pinot, and I have to agree, although it might be more like Cab Franc, done in a graceful herb-tinged style. It seeps bright currants, fresh cigarillo, sweet coffee and spice, with a texture that just invites you to drink, without fear of tarring your insides. Dennis Patton is someone I’ve known for years: he was one of the original instigators behind the Coro Mendocino project, and he continues to craft the Golden Vineyard’s version of this Zin-based blend that has more participants than ever, up to 14, including newcomers Claudia Springs and Philo Ridge. On the side, Patton has a new venture called Dendor Patton. He and Bob Dendor are, as the card says, “Two old friends making old vines Zin.” If a man is careful, he lives a long life. If he’s lucky, he gets wisdom. These two are lucky enough, as their wine clearly shows. The Dendor Patton 2007 ”Wisdom” is oozing old vine Mendocino quality that can’t be replicated elsewhere. There is connectedness to the earth that makes your heart sing. From the Brown Vineyard in Mendocino, this 80 plus year-old vineyard yields intense spice and body. It’s pure blackberry-blueberry cobbler with a dab of dark cherry ice cream on top. The pair didn’t make a 2008 because the fruit got forest-fired. The 2009 has immense promise, with acidity to spare and raring to go fresh, with flavors of honking blackberries and loganberries picked right off the vine and popped, Ukiah dust and all, right into your mouth. For $30, this is a smart buy, and if you’re lucky, it might actually make you wiser. On the opposite side of the spectrum was Sledgehammer, a nifty screwtop brand aimed squarely at the Millennial male. The 2008 is as big as a Harley in the mouth, screaming with an aftermarket exhaust. It’s going to hit that target square on the half-helmet. At $14.99, it’s a value.From the Mayacamas Mountain range in the Sonoma Valley comes Bartholomew Park Estate Zin. The vineyard is seven acres of head trained vines, in the Haraszthy block, where Agoston Haraszthy planted Zin over 150 years ago. The 2008 ($38) is quite broad-shouldered with good tannin, decent acid and nice dash of root beer ad chocolate covered toffee. A very pleasing wine that would make a nice houseguest.Another table where I had to surf under the crowd to get near was Brown Family, from Napa. These folks are serving up some wondrous Zins (Cabs, also, apparently), that make everyone who takes a sip, do that thing with their eyebrows. You know, where the eyebrows become one with the forehead. Yowza! The 2009 Chiles Valley Zin was so freaking lovely, I could barely summon the discipline to spit. So, I didn’t, actually. Winemaker Dave, as busy as he was, smiled graciously and bemusedly through the whole affair, confident in his ability to please the clamoring crowd, hook, line and sinker. It was well worth the wait, and he knew that. A sledgehammer, these were not. Just gracefully smooth and as polished as a rock in a stream: true gems in the crown of America’s heritage grape.
