Ravenswood Zinfandel Sonoma County

Showing tertiary notes, definitely an aged wine. Finish is short, not much lingering beyond some initial fruit. Good fruit core through the mid-palate.

2006 vintage

Pretty rough stuff at this point. A wine for masochists.

2006 vintage

Much better on night 3, dry tannins and all. Alas, our last bottle ...

2006 vintage

APPEARANCE: Dark ruby colour with a garnet coloured rim. NOSE: Takes a little while to open up. Blackberries, dark plums, coffee and dark chocolate. Some vanilla. (88p) TASTE: The arrival is slightly sweet, with jammy fruit of ripe dark and red berries. On the mid palate rather rounded tannins and some wood (manageable). The fruit and the tannins come together in the exit, fading into the aftertaste which gradually is overtaken by coffee. No overt trace of its 15.5% ABV. …

2006 vintage

Smooth well balance raspberry tea and spice.

2006 vintage

Seems to have reverted to my earlier impression from 2013: "Popped and poured with bread and cheese. I agree with winegr, this is an atypical zin- reminds me of some Italian wines- earth, minerals, stong tannins, exotic spices. It also seemed quite closed to me. This was my second bottle and continues to reveal relatively little." This time, however, the drying tannins were pretty imposing and unbalanced. I think the window my have passes on this. Apparently, I liked this …

2006 vintage

Pale ruby orange in color in appearance with a watery rim. The nose is intensely perfumed with notes matured fruits, damp earth and some dried leather. The plate is medium-bodied, relatively dry but very smooth, relatively well balanced considering the copious amount of alcohol it contains. The flavor components include red and blue fruits, cola, peppery spice (or maybe heat from the alcohol?), dried flowers and wet loam. Overall, this wine tasted much more generous and much more integrated than …

2006 vintage

Eðalklúbbur, vínsmakk #2 haust 2016 (Marbakkabraut 12) : Svipaður litur og á næsta víni á undan. Mjög sérstakur ilmur með leysiefnum og banönum sem fékk suma til að halda að þetta gæti verið jóker frá Priorat. Mjög þurrt í munni. Áfengi finnst enda er vínið 15,5%. Tannín eru mjúk og eftir smá tíma í glasi fóru að koma fram kryddtónar m.a. pipar. Gott vín. Þó áberandi áfengisbragð drægi aðeins úr.

2006 vintage

Black fruit and coffee; starchy and ungenerous on the midpalate, tannins far more evident on the second glass than the first. Missing that essential zin spice. 15.5% alcohol but oddly that didn't stick out (I'm a grouch about high alcohol). Drinkable but hardly worth having hung onto. Drink up!

2006 vintage

Rich nose with black berries, juicy plum and coffee paired with rich vanilla notes. Big mouth feel, lots of dark fruit and some baking spices, alcohol showing a bit too much on the finish, but overall an excellent zin. Best bottle I have had of this vintage. Would not cellar any longer.

2006 vintage

Consistent with previous note.

2006 vintage

Dark forest fruit, dark cherries and blueberries with clove, coffee and leather. Start a bit flat on the palate, then rounds off with some sweet fruit and integrated oak. Not quite the wine I was hoping for from a single vineyard bottling from Ravenswood. Overall solid bottle of Zinfandel.

2006 vintage

A roundhouse kick of spice, red fruit and berries. Nice acid, and well integrated tannins. Slight sting of alcohol in the finish, but that's perhaps to be expected with regards to ABV (15.5 %). Great for barbecue.

2006 vintage

Popped and poured. Deep garnet core, pink rim. On the nose; black cherries, raspberries, vanilla and spices – also some saline mineral notes adding a bit of complexity. On the palate; less forward than expected, fairly balanced alcohol (15,5%) and firm structure. By no means life altering, but a perfectly decent multi purpose barbeque wine. Drink 2015-2018.

2006 vintage

Based on my last tasting, I let this one lay down for a while (4 years). Happy I did so. Much better this time around. This continues to be a pretty massive wine. It has the earth, minerals, tannins and exotic spices that I experienced on the last go around, but this time the wine was much more open. Don't get me wrong, it was still a fairly punishing wine. But with much much more interest. The fruit is fading …

2006 vintage

Drinking really well right now. Fairly dry for a Zin and what a great finish.

2006 vintage

Smooth and fruity, plum and dried cherries.

2006 vintage

Needed time to get out of the bottle, smoothed out with spicy food

2006 vintage

Not what it once was, but still very interesting.

2006 vintage

Dry cork broken in two. Initial tastings suggested oxidized, but improved over time in the decanter. Strong lean towards aromatics, not enough fruit for my tastes. Fading fast, though perhaps a bad bottle. Wimpy.

2006 vintage

Rather simple - good balance but lacks complexity. No real depth.

2006 vintage

A perfect example of balanced fruit and tannins. This wine rocks right now.

2006 vintage

Still really nice, but not liking the current direction versus its epic youth.

2006 vintage

80 is the lowest rating I give. No fruit, overly tannic, and bitter. Had to pour down the drain. Maybe a bad bottle (but not corked). Tried the next day but no better. Others seemed to have better luck with it.

2006 vintage

This one had a darker profile. Very nice, but not mind blowing like earlier bottles. Dumb phase?

2006 vintage

Outstanding single vineyard zin. Surprisingly ,I think this wine has at least several years left. Finished bottle on day 3 and wine was still going strong. Rec a decant if drinking soon.

2006 vintage

Young fruity phase has passed and it presents good complexity in the nose with dark fruit and spices in the nose decent softer tannins. As it ages, it is showing some prune flavors on the body and the alcohol is noticeable. I would drink up.

2006 vintage

Beautiful Zin and very much classic Ravenswood! Decanted about a half hour before drinking. Dark ruby garnet color. Nose of cherries, plums, briar, earth and spice. Very structured with complex blue and red fruits balanced by licorice, black tea, and pepper. Fine-grained and well integrated tannin. Dare I say, "claret-like." Drinking wonderfully right now, so much I'd say no reason to wait, except I've known older bottles which suggest this will age out for over a decade more.

2006 vintage

Not as good as prior bottles, but still great. Came across a bit riper than normal at first, but toned down a bit with air. Still palate sticking goodness with a long finish.

2006 vintage

Fulfils the Ravenswood brief, at 15.5% alcohol its "no wimpy wine". However its a well-balanced gutsy Zin with masses of dark berry fruits and smooth vanilla oak.

2006 vintage

I really nice win with concentrated fruit, excellent balance after decanting 90 minutes.

2006 vintage

Epic bottle. This was great 93-94. Tasted more like a barolo again than a zin. Acidity, briar, earth, orange oil, fennel. Love it. Wish there was no bottle variation, but there clearly is.

2006 vintage

This wine has legs and lots of body to match them! Oak predominates on the nose with some violets as well. Dense deep sweet dark berry fruit on the palate, dark chocolate, plenty tannic structure and a lovely long finish.

2006 vintage

Unrund, säurebetont, alkoholisch. Nicht mein Stil.

2006 vintage

This bottle seemed slighty simpler than most others. A bit more advanced. Less of the fennel, orange oil notes of prior bottles. Still quite nice

2006 vintage

Brambly blackberry, cranberry, mocha and spice. Fine acidity, but the tannins were a bit drying and out of step with the rest of the wine. Drank over the course of two days, Vinturi used just the first day. The second day was noticeably better so if your bottle has been stored well, give it a 2hr+ decant ahead of drinking.

2006 vintage

Medium ruby fading to a moderate garnet rim. Evolved with caramel, coca cola, coffee over a core of black cherries & meat. Alcoholic. Broad on palate with zesty acidity, dusty tannins and burning alcohol that compromises balance. Full of liquorice & vanilla leading to a relative long-midpalate. Expressively concentrated but with llimited complexity however. Ready to drink, will keep for another 2 years.

2006 vintage

PnP, PnV & aired for 90 min. Muted crushed dark berries & notable oak that has yet to integrate fully on the nose. Black cherry & dark fruit on palate w/underlying layers of vegetal & herbal notes, and bit of anise on the finish. Dry, full-bodied w/still firm tannins, decent amt. of acidity, and lingering finish. This improved w/more bottle age since the last time I had it.

2006 vintage

This bottle was much better than the last. Dry, structured, tannic and complex. Again showing more citrus, fennel, blood orange and other notes more typical of barolo than CA zin. This bottle was great. Some meaningful variation between bottles.

2006 vintage

My first bottle tht was slightly off. Lets hope its not a sign of things to come. Night one was very ripe and hot, but still some underlying interest. Seemed slightly off. Night 2 was much better with more of the fennel, orange oil, red fruit, and other things i loved in earlier bottles. I still have a bunch, so hope this was an off bottle.

2006 vintage

Man ... my score is so much lower than others ... maybe the wine was in a 'dumb' phase as it was very mu ted in every aspect ... nothing stood out,like a $8 bottle of zin. A shame as we normally love what Ravenswood does.

2006 vintage

Aroma: violets, roses, tobacco Palate: tobacco, black raspberry, milk chocolate/cocoa. Outstanding wine.

2006 vintage

lots of alcohol, but I drank a case worth over the course of 2 years. definitely improved with some bottle age. Later bottles exhibited some spice and cherry notes.

2006 vintage

Still a stunning wine. Great spice, nice fruits. Nice pepper and cinnamon.

2006 vintage

This bottle was just great. From pop and pour drinking perfect, medium bodied, but dry and firm with licorice, exotic spice, minerals. Very elegant and complex. Great acidity. This is tough to peg as zin, because it is just superior to most zins. Love it, but nothing stereotypical here. Starts open, closes down a bit and then opens again night 2.

2006 vintage

Great spice and fruits. Definite flavors of pepper, cinnamon and cherry. A favorite Zin of mine from Ravenswood. Wish I had more.

2006 vintage

Nice combination of tart cranberry, pipe tobacco, cinnamon, and brambly spice. Some French oak showing on the finish. With air turns a little sweeter, with the mid-palate taking on sweet cherries. This was a very nice bottle, and showed significantly better than previously. This vintage is lining the shelves of my local Safeway and perpetually on sale, so be wary of storage if you find one of these for cheap.

2006 vintage

Blend of 76% Zinfandel, 4% Carignane & 20% Petite Sirah. Had w/dinner over 2 nights. Deep midnight purple hue. PnP initially & found it a bit harsh, then let it sit into 2nd day, which allowed this to show much better & soften a bit. Pungent & spicy aromas w/notes of black cherry, dark fruit & cigar box. Dark fruit & herbal flavors w/fruit fading on palate yet showing some earthy tones into 2nd day. Tannins are firm, moderate acidity …

2006 vintage

This bottle might have just been past it's drinkable age. I'll have to try the other bottle in my cellar but this was unacceptable for even Ravenswood.

2006 vintage

Agree with anandman - might be on the down slide. Dark fruit flavors dominant. Nose was ok, first sip a bit rough. After some air, it was better. Tobacco and a bit earthy, and actually stood up well to the spicy Chinese meal. Good region for Zins but I like other Ravenswoods better.

2006 vintage

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Ravenswood Zinfandel Sonoma County

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