Stunning Value Zin -- Buy by the Case Loads -- You heard it here first.

[newsguy]

well, i finally tasted the 99 Cline Zinfandel. and i know i'm a rank amateur compared to you folks on the board, but here goes...

i liked the wine and thought it was a nice bottle of raspberry, nose and taste, for $10. it seemed to me to be a simple wine -- tasty, but simple. it reminds me of the ravenswood alexander valley zin (97 i think), which was a big mouthful of fruit, but i found that to be much more complex and refined. i'd definitely buy more of that but think i'd pass on the cline.

the real fun came the next night, though, when i broke out a bottle of the 97 rancho zabaco sonoma heritage vines zin to go with a nice homemade pizza. man, this wine just gets better every time i taste it! absolutely wonderful, and the best $9 bottle of wine i've ever had.

for me, it's tough to compare the 99 cline and the 97 rancho zabaco since they truly are apples and oranges. that said, i think the cline merely is a pretty good "apple" while the rancho zabaco is one of the best darn "oranges" i've had!

keith