From a famous site that yielded many great Zinfandels under the Ravenswood label, the 2004 Zinfandel Old Hill Vineyard (a blend of 76% Zinfandel, 17% mixed varietals, and 7% Petite Sirah) exhibits a dark ruby color along with a modestly sweet but restrained nose of dark currants, cherries, and spice box. It reveals hints of beef blood, sassafras, and cherries, medium body, and a lean, austere finish. The motto at Ravenswood used to be “no wimpy wines,” but with this cuvee, one has to ask “where’s the beef?” One of my favorite songs is called “Poker Face” by a relatively unknown country crooner named Rob Jungklas. One of the lines in that great song sums up how I’m feeling about Ravenswood these days ... “You don’t have to meet the devil to lose your soul on this black night.” Ravenswood along with Ridge and a handful of other wineries were the reference points for stunning Zinfandel during the decade of the 1980s, but since the winery’s sale, these wines are mere shadows of what they were a decade ago (despite the fact that Joel Peterson is still in charge). While some of the current cuvees merited respectable scores, the soul and guts of Ravenswood Zinfandels are missing. Tel. (707) 938-1960

From a famous site that yielded many great Zinfandels under the Ravenswood label, the 2004 Zinfandel Old Hill Vineyard (a blend of 76% Zinfandel, 17% mixed varietals, and 7% Petite Sirah) exhibits a dark ruby color along with a modestly sweet but restrained nose of dark currants, cherries, and spice box. It reveals hints of beef blood, sassafras, and cherries, medium body, and a lean, austere finish. The motto at Ravenswood used to be “no wimpy wines,” but with this cuvee, one has to ask “where’s the beef?” One of my favorite songs is called “Poker Face” by a relatively unknown country crooner named Rob Jungklas. One of the lines in that great song sums up how I’m feeling about Ravenswood these days ... “You don’t have to meet the devil to lose your soul on this black night.” Ravenswood along with Ridge and a handful of other wineries were the reference points for stunning Zinfandel during the decade of the 1980s, but since the winery’s sale, these wines are mere shadows of what they were a decade ago (despite the fact that Joel Peterson is still in charge). While some of the current cuvees merited respectable scores, the soul and guts of Ravenswood Zinfandels are missing.Tel. (707) 938-1960

Ravenswood’s priciest Zin, Old Hill comes from a field blended vineyard, containing many varieties other than Zin, that winemaker Joel Peterson says is probably Sonoma’s oldest. The ’04 is a young wine. It is very rich in slightly stewed blackberry, cherry, plum, pomegranate, prune and raisin flavors, with Zin’s distinctively brambly, spicy finish. Fairly tannic, the wine is fully dry. It will age for a long time, gradually losing fruit, and is best enjoyed now–2012. ——S.H.(6/1/2007)—— 90