June 2006 from The Wine Advocate Issue #165, page 29:
"Charles Mara has fashioned four full-throttle, powerful Zinfandels.
From a 90-100-year old Napa Valley vineyard, the 2002 Zinfandel Reserve Marquise Luvisi Ranch exhibits
a dark ruby color as well as a big, sweet nose of raspberry and black cherry fruit, spice, and incense.
In the mouth, the wine is medium to full-bodied, round, and generous with subtle oak. It is a pretty Zin
to drink now and over the next 3-4 years. More powerful and heady, with a deeper ruby/purple color,
the 2003 Zinfandel Reserve Luvisi Ranch offers up a huge nose of road tar, blackberry liqueur, sweet
cherries, and flowers. Unctuously textured, full-bodied, juicy, and fleshy, this is a full-throttle,
in-your-face, hedonistic Zinfandel to drink over the next 4-5 years. From a Russian River vineyard,
the 2002 Zinfandel Reserve Dolinsek Ranch reveals a beautiful deep ruby/purple color in addition to
a big, sweet perfume of blueberries, boysenberries, and sweet cherries ... a veritable fruit cocktail.
Full-bodied, pure, well textured, and sumptuous, it is a stunning example of Zinfandel to drink now
and over the next 3-4 years. The dark ruby/purple-hued 2003 Zinfandel Reserve Dolinsek Ranch (from
the same vineyard, planted in 1910) offers scents of black fruits and subtle spicy wood and a sweeter,
late harvest style without the complexity and delineation of its 2002 sibling. I enjoyed it, but it
comes close to being cloying. Drink it over the next 3-4 years." |
