2000 Rancho Zabaco Dancing Bull Zin

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($9.99 i think, maybe $10.99) a fairly translucent purplish red in color. after letting breathe for an hour (which i think is crucial with the RZ zins), took a whiff and got a nose of blackberry and other dark fruits, plus a hint of spice. tastes of blackberry, raspberry and bit of black cherry and a whisper of spice. fairly light mouthfeel, with little depth and not much of a finish. all in all, a decent but underwhelming wine.

literally and figuratively, this wine pales in comparison to my old favorite, RZ's Sonoma Heritage Vines. it doesn't look, smell or taste anything like that deep, dark rich wonderful zin. i don't often assign scores to wines, but to convey a sense of hierarchy, i'd give the '97 Somoma Heritage Vines a 91, the '99 RZ Dry Creek Valley a 90+, the '99 and '98 Sonoma Heritage Vines scores of 88 and 87, respectively, and the 2000 Dancing Bull an 83-84. i won't be buying the latter again. instead, i think i'll try and load up on the '99 Dry Creek Valley, which i think is quite a bargain at $12.99.