A. Rafanelli, Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley

I acquired this bottle because someone abandoned a wine storage unit. The wine was stored standing up. The cork was dry, brittle, and broken up on opening. But the wine was fine. Dark, opaque purple. Nose of blackberries, earth and forest floor. Wine is tannic, with dark fruit and wood. Nice wine.

2006 vintage

A little thinner than the 2010 drink side by side. Very similar wines.

2006 vintage

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of several hours. The 1998 pours a deep garnet color with a near opaque core; medium+ viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and loads of sediment. On the nose, the wine is developing with heady notes of dark cherry, mixed brambles, mixed flowers, mushroom, a touch of funk, pine sap, forest floor, a little VA, and a mix of cool and warm spices for good measure. On the palate, the wine is …

1998 vintage

Prior notes are right on: turbid, pretty, and impressive. There is a delicate and joyful strawberry note in the center, so much so that it places it outside of Bordeaux by nose, but otherwise the comparisons make sense to me. Really, a joy.

2007 vintage

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of an hour. The 2000 pours a deep garnet/purple with an opaque core; medium+ viscosity with light staining of the tears and some sediment. On the nose, the wine is vinous with notes of ripe and desiccated red and black fruits: mixed brambles, black cherry, some fruit leather, some actual leather, pipe tobacco, black pepper, some mushrooms and decomposing earth and gentle warm spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium …

2000 vintage

Within minutes, developed a fragrant nose of rich red berry/cherry, hint of blackberry with floral overtones, subtle Dry Creek dust & hillside chaparral. Lively zinberry fruit that is complex & zesty. Great balance. My last bottle & the best in my memory. (Because it was my last bottle?) 2nd night the fruit tone darkened a bit. Wish I had another, in a great place now, very tasty.

2019 vintage

high acidity little fruit. disappointing as we have had many wonderful Rafanelli wines in the past.

2019 vintage

Lovely, has shed its baby fat, and drinking with a bit of structure, like a nice claret of Zinfandel. Pizza Mundo, worked really well with the eggplant pizza. Yum.

2019 vintage

Black fruit, well balanced, consistently excellent Zinfandel. Will keep buying.

2019 vintage

Purple in color. 14.9% ABV. Delightful nose of red and black fruits, baking spices and earth. Medium body with perfect acidity. Restrained, elegant and made in a lighter style. Cherry, strawberry, cranberry and a touch of pepper on the palate. Nice length on the finish. Not what I typically expect from Rafanelli yet this Zinfandel is a complete charmer. Best over the next several years.

2019 vintage

Enjoyed with the Llanos. Always great!

2019 vintage

I pulled this from the cellar on Father’s Day; toasting the year I became a dad. Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of a couple hours. The 2006 pours a deep ruby color with a near opaque core and a magenta rim; medium+ viscosity with faint staining of the tears and lots of fine sediment. On the nose, the wine is developing with powerful notes of tart dark fruits: brambles, montmornecy cherries, tobacco, dry earth, and baking spices. On …

2006 vintage

Rafanelli on pizza mundo, an excellent decision. Drinking very well, and great with pizza. Yum!

2019 vintage

Gave to Joyce & Judy.

2019 vintage

Extra points for how beautifully intact it remains. Turbid with a touch of garnet. This is a medium bodied Zin that drinks like Bordeaux. The fruit is still quite ripe and jammy and tannins are tamed, but the finish is elegant- a bit stony with slight wintergreen flourish.

2007 vintage

Perfect with lamb rib chops.

2019 vintage

Wine Rating Methodology 96-100: One of the most enjoyable wines I have ever tasted. I would not hesitate to open this wine for any Master of Wine. 91-95: Extremely enjoyable wine that I would drink and buy again. Fantastic to open up for those who appreciate wine. 85-90: Decent to good wine. Weekday bottle you don’t feel guilty about not finishing. Below 85: would not drink or buy again. ***Price of wine vs. enjoyment (value) is taken into consideration ***I …

2019 vintage

Solid core of dark fruits, light tannins, medium+ finish. Very enjoyable with roasted pork . Stood up to much more expensive Napa cabs in blind tasting.

2000 vintage

Popped and poured; enjoyed over a 24-hour period with very little evolution. No formal notes. Enjoyed alongside the 2015. Tonight, the 2019 showed brighter and almost exercised some restraint. Definitely still showing signs of its youth and a more proportional mix of red and black bramble fruit when compared to the 2015 which was more black in profile. Balanced and endowed with great structure; acid showing particularly well. Better after 2025 but I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see …

2019 vintage

Been drinking a bottle of this every 8 months or so. Part of a wine club shipment. Keep improving. Has that nice Zin bramble without being too jammy. blackberry cherry licorice tobacco chocolate . Very enjoyable Zin.

2019 vintage

Wine club purchase. A tasty Zin. Cherry, raspberry. blackberry, spices.

2019 vintage

Enjoyed with Llanos, always fantastic!

2019 vintage

WIML92 Tasted non blind. Dark garnet color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of flowers, boysenberries, plums and cherries. Flavors of raspberries, boysenberries and cherries. Tangy acidity, medium to firm tannin, full bodied. Drink or hold.

2019 vintage

First bottle of the 2019. Drinking vey well, rich sweet CA (dry creek) Zinfandel. Went perfectly with eggplant Rollatini, from the Tartine book. Yum!

2019 vintage

Try to find a better Sonoma Zinfandel. I’ll wait.

2019 vintage

The second of 6 bottles I purchased from their wine club. Always an excellent Zinfandel. Cherry, blackberry, black pepper. Enjoyable.

2019 vintage

Had my first vintage of this 8 months ago and it has improved from 91 to 92. Ridge and A. Rafanelli are my favorite Zin producers. blackberry cherry pepper bramble cinnamon

2019 vintage

Drank side by side with a 2019 Carlisle Vineyard Carlisle, both very good, divided vote in the end on the winner. I preferred the Carlisle but it was close. The Raf by comparison came across jammier and more extracted, and I would have guessed 1-2% higher in alcohol although only a 0.2% difference.

2019 vintage

Ridiculously delicious like I have never tasted this eine before. Bright jam supple full bodied plum and blackberry With welcome home lasagna

2019 vintage

nice balance

2019 vintage

Summer and Fall 2022 Wine Adventures (Corolla, NC & Three Rivers, MI & Dogwood Grove, VA) : A fruit bomb in the best sense of the phrase, but at the same time shows some old world elegance. Explosive initial flavors of black cherry are balanced out by sophisticated notes of mocha and sage. Enjoyable to drink.

2019 vintage

Smooth and refined relative to so many extracted, alcoholic zins. Relatively simple and pleasant, which makes it better rounded for a variety of food pairings and moods.

2019 vintage

seems awful dry and not a lot of fruit for a zin will try again tonight

2006 vintage

This is a delicious Zin! The nose is rich with fruit and the body is full without being jammy. The acid balances out the fruit just right. The finish is long and smooth!

2019 vintage

needs to breathe

2006 vintage

A little past it’s prime. Color is a little muddy, and a very slight fruit. Very little zin in this.

2000 vintage

No longer alive

2008 vintage

Nose is a little rough initially - musty. Starting to blow off after 30 minutes - should have opened it earlier, but a last minute decision. Will monitor it over the next few hours Acid overpowers fruit early on. Starting to smooth out after 45'

2006 vintage

Presented double-blind; cloudy in the glass, sediment?…almost opaque but not quite. Color a deep ruby with a slightly lighter rim. Aromas of red and dark fruits with baking spice and damp forest floor. On the palate, very generous black and red fruit with baking spice, earth and leather. Apparent use of some new French oak. Medium plus alcohol, medium acid. Tannins are soft and integrated. Long, immensely satisfying finish. Most thought it had 5-10 years of age on it; Napa …

2007 vintage

Wow. This was amazing for a 13-year-old Zin. Superb nose and color. Still had nice sweet fruit and was very balanced.

2007 vintage

Still very jammy, which was unexpected with a zin of this age. Some vegetal notes, long finish. Excellent paired with homemade turkey meatloaf.

2007 vintage

An explosion of aromas confirm that this wine is still amazingly youthful. Violets and hibiscus, ripe and jammy fruits - ripe red cherries, blackberries, jammy blueberries and raspberries. Also a potting soil earthiness. Blockbuster wine - the palate replays all the same fruit flavors and a dash of brightness from macerated raspberries, and a glycerine coating. Alcohol is high and totally in balance. Some coconut/macaroon, anise, and sweet mint. Tannins are still present, portending some more life to come. Everything …

2008 vintage

This is drinking like a champ. I last drank a bottle of this wine in 2002, so I hardly remember the sensory experience, but amazingly enough there is my note here from then that I can refer to. If this was dark and rich then, now it's dark and rich and mostly resolved, but still with great vigor and surprisingly sharp and spiky acidity. The color is a bit brown, the nose is a bit brown and lightly milky, but …

2000 vintage

Bought 3-4 bottles about 10 years ago directly from the winery for about 30/b. Decanted with normal sediment for its age. Rich, dark purple color; mature red fruit nose with some oak; rich, semi-complex mature fruit, brambly, very good mouthfeel. Delicious with braai of sausages, sirloin, lamb liver "tortoises", and marinated chicken (not sure of herbs). Stored horizontally in a cool, dark basement since purchase. My evaluation: I've stopped giving scores on a "100-point scale" as I've become less convinced …

2007 vintage

WOW. Best ever. Cab like. very dark & smooth. cedar box

2006 vintage

Not as good as the 2007, but still a nice effort. Dark fruit, hint of vanilla and some spice. Paired well with turkey.

2008 vintage

Soft tannins, jammy cherry and dark fruits with some spice. Drinking beautifully with 11 years of age. Paired well with Thanksgiving Dinner!

2007 vintage

P'nP - This was a fantastic zin. Solid fruit with some nice spiciness. Quintessential Dry Creek zin? Still plenty of life here. Sadly our last bottle.

2008 vintage

Opened for a few hours, then decanted right before drinking. Drinkable but over the hill. Nose was actually very nice - upon first opening it had some funk but mellowed out nicely. However the fruit was a bit flabby and finish was weak. Might have even had a tiny bit of secondary fermentation on the bottle. Drink 'em if you got 'em.

1998 vintage

Friday Tasting Group; Unthemed (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA) : N: Slightly closed; Some spice, brambleberries? More to give? P: Med body; NICE, ALMOST swtish frt BEAUTIFULLY counterbalanced by an acidity which transitions into a LONG finish with a bitterswtness (40/60) to the remaining very, VERY fine tannins, While drinking SUPERBLY right now, this may not QUITE have peaked (?), & will EASILY go beyond its 15th! My EXCEPTIONAL-!

2008 vintage

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A. Rafanelli, Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley

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