Paul Dolan Mendocino County Zinfandel 5-Pack
Sold by: Mendocino Wine Group LLC
$69.99 $145.00 52% off List Price
2014 Paul Dolan Zinfandel, Mendocino County
Any Debaters? Kyle? 
Thank you all for showing interest in our Paul Dolan Vineyards 2014 Zinfandel!
This is the second vintage in a row to receive a 90 point score from the Wine Enthusiast.
We hope that you enjoy!
[LABRAT]
GRAPE DEBATER!
Sorry, could not find the logo, but I received my first ever bottle to evaluate last night!! Happy to pass along the comments to my fellow wine wooters!!
The bottle received was a Paul Dolan Vineyards 2014 Zinfandel. It is from Mendocino County and has a 15% alcohol content.
After work we opened the bottle and gave it a sniff. First impressions were a mild peppery aroma. It did not seem fruity, nor did I pick up any significant off or unusual notes. The color was very dark, almost black and body was acceptable. Upon first taste the wine was well balanced with very good top notes - it had very subtle berry flavor with a pleasing spicy finish. There were good aromatics and a slight burn on swallowing.
We let it breathe for a while and drank it with a meat ravioli dinner, with red sauce.
We both felt that it did improve as it opened up, and we enjoyed it very much with our dinner. It was dry to very dry, which I like with excellent high notes. The aforementioned berry flavor came out a bit more and the peppery notes balanced it quite well. Even though this Zin was dry, the sweet notes which were low and subdued reminded of cotton candy. I also thought that I picked up a fresh green note, similar to lemon grass, but this actually worked well and was something that I had not tasted in a wine before.
All in all a VERY good wine and this comes from someone that does not drink a lot of Zins. We really enjoyed it and felt that it was pleasingly different from the cabs, merlots and pinots we usually drink. Would definitely buy this wine and the price point here is EXCELLENT for a wine of this high quality.
After evaluating the wine I went to the vineyards website to learn that they sell it for $25 per bottle. It also lists the following:
Acid
0.55 g/ 100 mL
pH
3.72
Aged 12 months in 25% new and 75% seasoned oak barrels
Bottling Date
Winter 2015
Alcohol %
15.0
Wine Enthusiast
90
Excellent rattage!! Wish I had not just purchased my fill of Zinfandels for a while. Damn you Pedroncelli! 
Late to the game! Wine tasting notes, apologies for the delay.
Wife.woot and I are definitely not experts, but we like-a da juice, as they say, and this one surprised us as we got into it.
Tasting notes:
Opened up tart, almost sour cherry, very full bodied–almost viscous–but not oily, with a hint of avocado (that one comes with a question mark).
A Bitey finish, very hard (wife seconds the HARD), not dry but definitely ripe.
After a trip through the Vinturi it really opened up. The first thing that hit us was a big blast of blackberry, and it was much much smoother. Like a syrah meets a malbec, says the missus. After the third sip she claimed it tugged a bit at the back of her throat, but got silkier when aerated.
I liked this one, and she was on the fence at first but sold wholeheartedly after aeration. Hope this was a bit helpful. Thanks for the opportunity to lab rat!
Thanks for the notes. Would you say this is on the leaner side of Zins?
There is always Bedrock, and they ship in cool weather…
Sorry not to get to this yesterday. But yes I would agree with “leaner side of Zins”. However, I typically do not drink Zin but after tasting this one will probably add some to the rotation!
Info post:
All tasting notes for this wine have been cross posted into CT under user name wine.woot_taster. User names have been removed to protect the guilty. PM me if you want your tasting note removed or user name added back.
Thanks and back to the wineing.