Ravenswood Vintner's Blend Zinfandel 2003 - typicity?

Question

Hello,Saturday self and Xina took the exam which we have been worrying about for the last half year - the 2-honors[1] in the Swedish Society of Tastevins. It was less than a success.WHile we may have passed the theory (quick: which are the ten crus in Beaujolais? what vitamin do you find in wine? what river passes Rüdesheim?), the practical test, which involved identifying 3 whites and 4 reds (main variety, cou ntry, and district) was difficult. Why? I blame globalisation, and possibly Ozification (looking out at a post-equinoctical snowfall, I find it counterintuitive to blame global warming), and the Swedish monopoly. Main reason: wines at about SEK 100 do not have a lot of personality. They are too young, and too much cast in a mold - they are all more or less like your generic Australian wine [2], because Swedes like that, or, most Swedes do, if they don't prefer vodka, but that is another newsgroup (most liekly, What made me get up to speed was the ZInfandel.Don't get me wrong, I have been to formal tastings with higher-end ZINs (WITH food, WITH food) - the kind that are created by Helen THurley [3] and costs c 545 SEK. Here, we were presented with Ravenswood Vintner's Blend Zinfandel 2003. I learned that on  this cost USD 6.49. In Sweden, it is SEK 119 which translates at a rough exchange rate of 7.5 SEK to a USD into USD 15.87. Now, how typical of ZInfandel is it? My guess: not much. I would guess, but please correct me if I am wrong, that this is the kind of wine that fits nicely into the slot 1½ step above the two-buck-chuck.Ahem. My guess was a young sangiovese. I was wrong.The young sangiovese was the one that smelled of bananas and marshmallows - the one I thought might be a ... Zin.CheersNils Gustaf[1] approximate translation. there's the 1-, 2-, and 3-honors, besides, there is a varietal course.[2] there are a large number of excellent Australian wines - many of which are not obviously Australian[3] unfortunately the only name I remember, my notes...

miles · Accepted Answer

The Ravenswood is a low end inexpensive Zin. I wouldn't rate it on par with 2 buck chuck though. I find the Vinters Blend to be a decent Zin for the low price. It's one of my under $10usd keep on hand wines. Don't get me wrong, it does not compare at all to a top notch Zin but for the money its a good value. Ravenswood does make some much better Zins too but none of them are on the top of my list for great ones.

Nils Gustaf L> Hello,

Nils Gustaf Lindgren · Answer

"Ed Rasimus"  skrev i meddelandet news:   Morgon, Moulin-a-Vent, Fleurie, Brouilly, Cote de Brouilly, Chiroubles, St Amour, Chenas, Julienas, asnd Regnie.Really, don't know aND don't want to think of it ...Quite likely. Here we ARE dealing with low-level wines, however, a few steps above pure entry level, and filtered through one importer's standard of what the market will ask for - no way will a wine like a first growth appear in the practical test! One reason (you did not know that) being that the wines should be single-varietal, or very close to single-varietal. Also, as I said, the mean price is c 100 SEK (arithmetic mean 99, median 117) and the most expensive ever about 224 SEK (a Barolo from Fontanafredda).I find that very easy to believe.I found Seghesio Home Ranch Zinfandel 2001 at roughly USD 36-37. Is this what you have in mind, and would you pay it? I found a slightly lower price in the US, c USD 30.CheersNils Gustaf

Mark Lipton · Answer

Nils, In the past (>5 years ago), Ravenswood Vintners Blend (aka "Chateau Cash Flow") was a quite reasonable low end Zin, sourced by Joel Peterson from purchased grapes. Since the sale of Ravenswood to BRL Hardy (now a part of the mega-wine business Constellation), the production of the Vintners Reserve has ballooned, resulting in a loss of quality. This change was driven home to me recently when I saw it for sale near the cashiers of our local Target (almost on a par with Wal-Mart)!! Indeed, it is now just a cut above Two-Buck Chuck. These days, like Ed and Dale, I look to Cline's California and Ancient Vines bottlings for good, low cost Zin.

On another note, I too have struggled with blind tasting of inexpensive wines, as they often lack the varietal character of their more expensive siblings. It also seems to be true that at that price point, red wines are harder to distinguish than whites. It can be very frustrating.

Mark Lipton

Anders TÃ¸rneskog · Answer

"Ed Rasimus"  skrev i melding >I freely admit to knowing little about wine, except something about those of Germany.. :-)There are actually two Rüdesheims, one in the Nahe valley, 2 miles west of the river and Bad Kreuznach, the other is the famous Rüdesheim of Rheingau on the Rhine river, a mere mile and a half from the mouth of Nahe across the Rhine to the west.:-) Anders

Nils Gustaf Lindgren · Answer

"Ed Rasimus"  skrev i meddelandet news:   None of these are available in Sweden. The only Cline one was an entrylevel Zin at SEK 89 - since the Home Ranch cost 119 here, and USD 6.50 in the US, I would hazard a rather low price for the CLine, and typicity to match.BTW, what _is_ typical of Zin? According to one of my friends in Sweden, 'Zin can tast  any way'.CheersNils Gusatf

Nils Gustaf Lindgren · Answer

White:1 Trimbach Riesling 2003 (SEK 116) Noticeably lacking in the petroleum department, also with rather faint acidity (due to vintage?)2 Bourgogne Les Setilles 2004 (SEK 129) From Olivier Leflaive.3 Stoneleigh Sauv Blanc 2005 (SEK 98) Old faithful. I think it appears for the thrid or fourth time.Red:4 Sangiovese La Carraia 2004 (SEK 98) All marshmallows and ripe bananas, jam ... HArd to identify it as an Italian, let alone Sangiovese5 Neetlinghof Cab Sauv 2003 (SEK 99) I thought this was a Pinotage. SA funky earth, or whatever.6 Ravenswood Vintner´s Blend Zin7 Crozes-Hermitage Les Launes 2003 Delas Freres. Spiky acidity, no doubt from a plastic bottle ...So that was the line-up. To my miond, #3 and 7 were obvious, but apparently not to all. #1 I identified as Alsatian, and struggled ightily, ending with a guess of PG (while deploring its lack of honey).Oh well. There´s a new exam next year.CheersNils Gustaf

markw · Answer

Mark, this may be what you meant but just wanted to point out that historically the Vintners Blend was not made from purchased grapes but blended by Joel Peterson from purchased *wines* - that's where the name comes from. Even before the sale of the winery, Ravenswood was in process of moving production into a new facility, which was supposed to enable increases in volume as well as bringing more winemaking in-house. What's going in to Vintners Blend these days, I have no idea.

Mark W.

ksternberg1 · Answer

Ravenswood's quality has degraded a lot, and had been declining evenbefore Joel Peterson sold out to Constellation Brands. There are somany other, better Zins around. I would not waste my money onRavenswood.

Ravenswood Vintner's Blend Zinfandel 2003 - typicity?

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