This wine has been somewhat controversial in the past. There was a local restaurant that used to serve it by the glass and that’s where I “discovered” it. Since then, I’ve bought it at retail and really loved the 2007 version.
However, the 2008 does not quite live up to the previous vintage. After an earlier bottle was a bit closed down, I decanted this one for about 90 minutes. In the decanter, the color is a light violet. It’s not as dark as you might expect. In the glass, the aroma is nothing short of typical and amazing. It’s the best feature of the wine for sure. It’s flowers, perfume, briary crushed berry fruit so typical of zinfandel and a slight herbal menthol quality. Really nice. In the mouth, the wine falls short a bit. The fruit is not as jammy as I like in my Zins, nor as I remember in this wine. It’s medium bodied and even for this lover of Italian wines – slightly too austere with the acidity a touch out of balance.
Overall, nothing offensive or offputting, but nothing to make me “go long” on this producer in the future. 86 points, about $17.
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| 2008 Murphy-Goode Liar’s Dice Zinfandel |
Never been a fan of this wine. I've had it off-and-on since about the '97 vintage and it has never impressed me. "Austere" and "acidic" are the two words that come to my mind, too.
As soon as I tasted this last night, I thought of you! Our palates have always been pretty much in synch which is why I'd like to find that Dunning. But yes, Austere isn't a word I like to associate with Zin.
Maybe so guys, but if I saw this wine (Haven't) I'd give it a try: 86 points for a $17 Zin is worth a spin. Interesting that the vintage changed so much from 07 to 08. I found that true with a number of wines.
Dennis,
It is a bit odd. The vintage charts I've seen for Sonoma Zin seem to rate 2008 a few points higher than 2007 on the whole. However, my tastings haven't borne this out at all. I've much preferred the '07s that I've tried.
J