BURGESS ZINFANDEL

[stevebody]

Ditto to above. Distributors here in Sea-patch have dumped prodigious quantities of leftover '97s and '96s this spring, due to the downturn in sales and the recession in general. Another time, they might have held on to them and gambled on selling them off as a sort of library selection later on but this year everyone's selling short to generate cash.

We've gotten case lots of the '96 Condado de Haza that we sold at $12 a bottle, seven cases of the Thunder Mountain Cabernet '97 that originally retailed for $55, we sold at $13, and the '98 Montirius Gignodas that we're still selling at $9 a bottle, just to name three.

In the Zin category, we're about to pick up some backdated Ballentine Napa that will go for $10 per. My mouth is watering over that already.

BTW, I'd put the Bogle Old Vines up against the Zabaco or the Burgess any day of the week, for even less $$$. Another odd, obscure Zin I've found that I just loved was the Gnekow Family's Campus Oaks Zin, about $12, that is some of the ripest, most generous stuff I've had in a while. Hard to find here, at any rate, but well worth the search.