A very spicy, thick mountain-fruit Zin that shows a fantastic balance between blackberry fruit and peppery, briary-ness with dark chocolate showing up on the finish. An elegant Zin from a producer striving to do good things in its little pocket of the Sierra Foothills’ world. It’s priced well.——V.B.(11/1/2011)—— 90

The 2005 Zinfandel Amador, a blend of 10.4% Petite Sirah, 10% mixed blacks, and 79.6% Zinfandel, is an excellent wine offered at a bargain price. Ripe berry fruit intermixed with loamy soil, pepper, and garrigue scents are followed by a medium to full-bodied wine with no hard edges, good purity, and an attractive finish. Consume it over the next 2-3 years. Neither of these strong efforts from this relatively new producer are 100% Zinfandel.Tel. (530) 620-6500; Fax (530) 620-6505