Clear dark Ruby with a glowing garnet edge turning to a slip of bright sparkling clear. Smoky hot brilliance, combined with a sort of bread-dough nutty fruit. Zin magnificence glowing through–as it SHOULD–fat and round and ripe.

In the mouth, thick and viscous, acid clamouring for attention along the edges, making a crystalline glow sparkle with the chubby blackberry and orange melon. Crisp bitterness levels everything out in the finish, casting a carefully-contained edginess to all that wonderful west-side Paso fruit.

A most unusual Zinfandel, not really cut from the cloth of Paso typicity OR Dry Creek Valley OR Primitivo but with a nod to Plavac Mali. Clean and surreal, bouyed on ridiculous acid and yet not short-changing the chubby items we ALL lust after in a good Zin, the chewing tart and grinding structure raise the somewhat slutty fruit to places few Paso producers achieve. I can think of only Turley producing this sort of balance.

Dirty earth encapsulates the finish, and still…. all that sexy zin…

2015 SHIRAH WINES Zinfandel Templeton Gap Paso Robles 15.5

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