k

8.9

Lush mouth feel. Softness paired with decent acidity. Notes of blueberry mid-palate. Bottle says red fruits, cherry and black raspberry. — 2 months ago

Conrad Green

9.4

Violets and hot dark cherry. High in alcohol but balanced and delicious. Long and intense. — a year ago

Jay Kline

9.4

Something quite magical often happens to Rafanelli Zinfandel after 10+ years of bottle age. I can’t explain it…but these wines begin to take on a more rustic, Old World feel. It’s as if they shift into an overdrive. The fruit is still big, beautiful and pure (no-doubt a testament to their rigorous selection) and yet they can often display a new energy about them which give them remarkable longevity. This bottle is perfectly representative.

Opened to celebrate my daughter’s 14th birthday, the 2009 Rafanelli Zinfandel pours a deep, practically opaque garnet that becomes more turbid the further we delved into the bottle (in typical fashion, this Rafanelli full of sediment). Medium+ viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, bright cherry and bramble-like fruits, Asian spices, espresso and some black pepper. I do sense a touch of VA. On the palate, the wine is dry and with medium tannin and medium+ acid. The notes from the nose are confirmed…with a bit of added emphasis, it should be noted. There’s almost a Pop Rocks experience too…with the slightest effervescence pricking the tongue. And again, this is something that I would more expect from a non-interventionalist wine from Italy…certainly not from Sonoma. Hot take here…but this bottle reminded me of something from Paolo Bea (San Valentino) more than anything from Sonoma, let alone California. It’s just so wonderful. The finish is long and delivers minutes of pleasure.

As far as I’m concerned, nobody is making Zinfandel with the soul that Rafanelli does and the proof is in the bottle each and every time. Of course, they are delicious when young but with age, these wines become something else. Drink now with a decant (for sediment only) and through 2034. — 3 years ago

B

10

1990 Chateau Rayas Syrah. Decanted 1 hr before serving and it needed every minute of it. Light in color, but rich in flavor. Continued to open up throughout dinner. Initial taste upon opening bottle was iffy: we thought it tasted “hot” and might have been improperly stored at some point. However, as the wine evolved in the decanted, this unpleasant thin and hot feel at the end went away. Roses, black plum, strawberry, licorice, black olives. K picked up more of the fruit. I picked up more of the salty notes. Delicious! — 6 years ago

Diego Flores

9.4

Very good, though wish I’d opened this sooner—not fruit forward as I’d prefer. Still, great fleshy red and black fruit, a real beauty. Fair warning: this one’s fairly hot (15.8%) but doesn’t taste it at all. — 8 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.3

Dense dark ruby almost black. A little closed after the initial decant. Coconut Oak and ripe black fruits. A big full bodied palate with the ripe fruit hiding the 16% Alcohol. Finishes with supple smooth tannins. A great wine for Winter - you could not drink this on a hot day. Easy to like and the best value of their many Cuvees - this is a good formula for Mollydooker. Not sure I could take more density and concentration like the Velvet Glove. Will have a bottle of the Carnival of Love in a few weeks. — 8 years ago

Carter White

8.9

Opulent fruit, a little hot — 7 months ago

Austin Hohnke

9.0

Huge producer but all organic. Cranberry, cherry, orange peel, tobacco leaf, carob, perfect smidge of VA to keep things interesting. Ripe, tactile tannins. Touch hot at 14.5%. Drink or hold with or without food. I preferred the balance of this on day 2. — 8 months ago

Jonathan Wall

9.1

2003. Last bottle was 3 years ago, and this one I liked better. Starts out austere with evidence of a difficult hot year. But after hours in the decanter it cycled thru some almost port like caramelized tapenades and ended the evening with a somewhat strange but delicious red crème brûlée thing. So if you have one… I suggest patience thru the awkward opening hours to get to the awkward good part. Cheers. — 4 years ago

Wine-O-Mite!!

9.1

Nice Syrah, lots of depth and character, front and middle are lovely, back end resolution nice but not perfect balance for me. I don't know that a 100% syrah can ever resolve in perfect balance for me. That said, it is better than good. Hefty, dark ruby, swagger. Watch out.. she bang: 15.7%. Big enough that it doesn't taste hot though — 5 years ago

Ross Chernin

9.1

Incredibly fun syrah. Whole cluster, carbonic and early picked. Bright and super fruity. Blackberries on the nose and fresh blueberry pie on the palete. Dry farmed and only 12.5% alcohol.

A fun explosive fruit bomb. Great with spicy pizza. — 6 years ago

with Jazmina

Brett Vanderbrook

9.0

It has been a hot minute since I’ve had Amarone, and boy have I missed this. So silky and rich. It’s not necessarily sweet, but it begs for dark chocolate. Yum. YUM! — 8 years ago

with Raina

MaJ CappS

9.0

Smells of Thai basil,

Continues into the wine, with eucalyptus, squid ink, intensely deep, rich and as usual very well made.
This wine strikes a great balance in the holy trinity of fruit - acid - oak.
This wine is hot, yet does not show it off at all.
Loong finish, dark unsweetened fruits.

A molly dooker is a left hander in Australia.
F to the Y to the I..
Been drinking this wine since 2005, first release. Still a quality wine for a quality price. — 8 years ago

Conrad Green

9.2

Polished and intense. Great texture. Lovely deep fruit. A touch hot — 7 months ago

with Bex

Brandon Boesch

9.4

Pineau d’aunis for the win! What a beautiful wine. Berries and cracked white pepper for days. There’s great tannin and good mouthfeel. Perfect food wine. Also day two it was great out of the fridge with some chill on the patio. A little complex and earthy for day drinking but so good. Also the price point for this one is great. Interestingly I do not see a vintage. — 3 years ago

Devin Bostick

9.1

Leather plum cherry etc, body hung but not jarring and not hot but acids there, berries — 5 years ago

Blake Walker

9.1

Fresh, lifted style. Floral, dried herbs, strawberry preserve. Avoids being too hot, jammy or smoke-y. — 5 years ago

Andrew Schirmer

8.9

Juicy in all the right places. Less hot than past vintages... — 6 years ago

with Alsu

Weijie Shi (Jay)

9.1

Hot vintage. Overripe red tree berries, smoked meat and a hint of Provencal herbs. A bit lack of structure. — 7 years ago

Will Patterson

9.2

Still youthful, rich but with some nuance of age. A bit hot but has structure and some bitterness that adds complexity. — 8 years ago