2004 Zinfandel Pesenti Vineyard

Several of the 2004 Turley reds show a distinct hot-year character, and this is not necessarily my favorite style for these high-octane wines. But while a few zins were downright porty in March, there are also some extravagantly rich examples with enough freshness to maintain their balance. What I like best about Ehren Jordan's minimal-intervention winemaking is that there are about a million zins here, and they all taste different. Devotees of great zinfandel should make an effort to track down a bottle or two of the Turley example from the Ueberroth Vineyard in Paso Robles, which has in a very short time shown itself to be one of California's elite zin sites.