J. Dusi Zinfandel / Zin Port
$59.99 + $5 shipping
CONDITION: Red
PRODUCTS:
2 2009 J. Dusi Zinfandel 750ml
1 2007 J. Dusi Haute Zinfandel Port 375ml
CT links above

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$92 before shipping on the website.

2009 has a couple high CT marks, but there are from the same reviewer. Jennings gave it an 87.

Can we get an RS value for the zin? My experience with fruit from this vineyard has only been through Tobin, and theirs were pretty heavy handed with the RS.

I just want the port. If anyone of you non-sweet red drinkers out there want to get rid of the Port, I am here

What was the first vintage available to the public under your own label? I know you've been selling your grapes for years.

I just want the port. If anyone of you non-sweet red drinkers out there want to get rid of the Port, I am here

Same here. Consider me next in line, if anyone is willing. Thanks in advance

Son of a ..... WD knows I don't have room, but he keeps putting up these tempting offers. And after PS, Zin is one of my favorite varietals. And Zin Port especially!


Evil, evil WineDavid!!!

kylemittskus wrote:What was the first vintage available to the public under your own label? I know you've been selling your grapes for years.

The first vintage for resale was the 2006 J Dusi Zinfandel. began making small batches in 1996 and then launched the label in 2006. We have been selling the grapes to other local wineries for decades and still do. I am only taking about 10% of the grapes from the home vineyard to produce these wines. We still sell to Turley, Four Vines, Cyoher, Tobin James and JC Cellars. My uncle sells his fruit mainly to Ridge.
Cheers, Janell Dusi

MarkDaSpark wrote:Son of a ..... WD knows I don't have room, but he keeps putting up these tempting offers. And after PS, Zin is one of my favorite varietals. And Zin Port especially!


Evil, evil WineDavid!!!

I'd be more than happy to drink.... I mean "store" some of that Zin Port for you. ;)

I sure love a good Italian style Zin (particularly dry farmed) - and I've been in love with Dusi grapes since my first Piedra Creek Benito Dusi years ago when I lived in SLO. I'm in!

trifecta wrote:$92 before shipping on the website.

2009 has a couple high CT marks, but there are from the same reviewer. Jennings gave it an 87.

Can we get an RS value for the zin? My experience with fruit from this vineyard has only been through Tobin, and theirs were pretty heavy handed with the RS.

Stylistically, these Zinfandels are more restrained and not so over the top with jamminess. More bright fruit on the front and going into some spice. RS measures at 0.08%. I try to make a balanced Zinfandel in more of an old world style and very approachable with many foods.

halfdeaf wrote:I sure love a good Italian style Zin (particularly dry farmed) - and I've been in love with Dusi grapes since my first Piedra Creek Benito Dusi years ago when I lived in SLO. I'm in!

Yes, exactly, Old Vine Zinfandel! Romeo, the winemaker and owner of Piedra Creek is such a great older man. I recently did a tasting with him of both of our wines and a couple others sourced from our ranch, all blind! It is great to see some of the old Italians in the area still living their passion, Zinfandel!

Always loved me a good Zin...also love Zin port styles. In for 2! Would have been 3, but I don't have room for 6 full size bottles.

Last wooter to woot: hogfatt

Hi; J and thanks for sharing your wine and being here with us. I love this Zin! I am a longtime Tobin James Dusi fan. I think my first TJC Dusi was '97 or '98. Toby & Lance do an awesome Dusi! Yours is wonderful! It's amazing what that bit of American oak does with the french oak. And the "fresh fruit" texture is a joy in a glass! Very food friendly.

I haven't had your Zin port, but I was a huge consumer of Eberle's so I am quite eager to experience Dusi port. (Cue Pavlovian response...)

If anyone has doubts, I would take the plunge. If you have had Rosenblum, a good Zin producer, then you'll love the Dusi fruit. If you've had TJC, same layers of flavor but a different texture. A great glass!

In for 3.

cabernetharpo wrote:Hi; J and thanks for sharing your wine and being here with us. I love this Zin! I am a longtime Tobin James Dusi fan. I think my first TJC Dusi was '97 or '98. Toby & Lance do an awesome Dusi! Yours is wonderful! It's amazing what that bit of American oak does with the french oak. And the "fresh fruit" texture is a joy in a glass! Very food friendly.

I haven't had your Zin port, but I was a huge consumer of Eberle's so I am quite eager to experience Dusi port. (Cue Pavlovian response...)

If anyone has doubts, I would take the plunge. If you have had Rosenblum, a good Zin producer, then you'll love the Dusi fruit. If you've had TJC, same layers of flavor but a different texture. A great glass!

In for 3.

It is interesting to taste the zinfandels from all the wineries we sell fruit to, there is this unique underling characteristic in them all, Dusi fruit! Different winemaking styles and the vintage just make the differences... The Port is simply delicious and a great balance of sweet with the fortified alcohol, hope you enjoy the vino!
Janell

After pondering this offer over breakfast, I'm still undecided. Perhaps later in the day, if the meetings don't make me forget.

Foggy this morning; couldn't see the surrounding hills.

No storage room for more wine or I'd be in for a couple sets perhaps.

Still hoping wine.woot (or home.woot eventually comes through with an offer of a largish (an honest 200-250 capacity including room for sparklers) quality wine cooler which has indisputable good reviews online at objective consumer-review sites.

And, BTW, happy leap year day! A day so great, they only celebrate it every 4 years.

I'm curious: would this be the same dusi grapes that end up in the various Tobin James vintages? They've never provided a Port, but I've had multiple Zins from them with the Dusi label.

coolchris160 wrote:I'd be more than happy to drink.... I mean "store" some of that Zin Port for you. ;)

I don't think so!

jdusiwines wrote:The first vintage for resale was the 2006 J Dusi Zinfandel. began making small batches in 1996 and then launched the label in 2006. We have been selling the grapes to other local wineries for decades and still do. I am only taking about 10% of the grapes from the home vineyard to produce these wines. We still sell to Turley, Four Vines, Cyoher, Tobin James and JC Cellars. My uncle sells his fruit mainly to Ridge.
Cheers, Janell Dusi

Was just up at Ridge after Dark & Delicious (Petite Sirah event) and purchased their 2007 Zin Dusi Ranch Late Harvest.

So looking forward to this offer!

I would be all over this if it was just he Port. I've got plenty of Zin for now so don't really need anymore. I do have just as much port, but you can never have too much port.

cabernetharpo wrote:Hi; J and thanks for sharing your wine and being here with us. I love this Zin! I am a longtime Tobin James Dusi fan. I think my first TJC Dusi was '97 or '98. Toby & Lance do an awesome Dusi! Yours is wonderful! It's amazing what that bit of American oak does with the french oak. And the "fresh fruit" texture is a joy in a glass! Very food friendly.

I haven't had your Zin port, but I was a huge consumer of Eberle's so I am quite eager to experience Dusi port. (Cue Pavlovian response...)

If anyone has doubts, I would take the plunge. If you have had Rosenblum, a good Zin producer, then you'll love the Dusi fruit. If you've had TJC, same layers of flavor but a different texture. A great glass!

In for 3.

slm9951 wrote:

Thanks for the heads up about Rosenblum my favorite Zins!! Due your comment, I took the plunge and bought my first Woot!!!!!! Yipee!!

Just back from a trip to CA's Wine Country. While there, I discovered that I like port! Or, more specifically I liked one port that I tried. It was Frank Family's Zinfandel Port. I generally prefer dry over sweet, so I was surprised that I liked the port.

I tried the Ballentine ZinFandel Port and thought it might be a little too sweet.

Can anyone who is more knowledgeable about port tell me if it is more like the Frank Family port or not?

Zinfandel is generally my go-to wine (Decoy, Ballentine) so I should jump on this anyway. However, like I said, we just got back from CA and brought 3 cases of various wines home with us.

I'd 2nd the suggestion of some sort of wine storage rack from wine.woot or home.woot btw!

J

I met Janell at ZAP in SF a few years ago, and joined CLuB 101 when she started it. I love everything she's produced, and have turned a number of friends onto her wines. Great historic family and vineyard in the Paso area, and she and her family are just terrific.

It's really interesting to do a tasting of Dusi Zins from different winemakers. Check out the Ridge Paso Robles Zin (altho it has grapes from her uncle's vineyard) and the Turley.

Yes, same vineyard and same grapes that Tobin James uses in their 'Dusi Vineyard' designated Zinfandel which mostly sells through their Wine Club! For the most part, we farm the land and sell the grapes to other local wineries, and I now keep about 10% of the grapes for myself, J Dusi Wines!

Janell, could you explain about the ageability and drinking timetable for the Zin? I don't know much about that stuff, I just know I like to drink Zins!!

jelliott04 wrote:While there, I discovered that I like port!

Welcome to the dark side! MUAHAHAHA

Dead chocolate? Really? I prefer mine a tad decadent (my port too!). Spell check gotcha.

slm9951 wrote:Janell, could you explain about the ageability and drinking timetable for the Zin? I don't know much about that stuff, I just know I like to drink Zins!!

This 2009 Zinfandel has one year bottle age at this current time. I would recommend 1-5 years. One of the great notes of zinfandelmis the bright fruit tones, and consequently that's the first thing to drop out of a Zinfandel that has been aging. For this reason, I recommend drinking current to a couple years age on a Zinfandel. Yet, it is still interestingbtonto drink a well aged Zinfandel, but I do not think you are getting the best out of the wine at that point.
Janell Dusi
J Dusi Wines

MarkDaSpark wrote:Son of a ..... WD knows I don't have room, but he keeps putting up these tempting offers. And Zin is one of my favorite varietals. And Zin Port especially!


Evil, evil WineDavid!!!

+1!

jelliott04 wrote:Just back from a trip to CA's Wine Country. While there, I discovered that I like port! Or, more specifically I liked one port that I tried. It was Frank Family's Zinfandel Port. I generally prefer dry over sweet, so I was surprised that I liked the port.

I tried the Ballentine ZinFandel Port and thought it might be a little too sweet.

Can anyone who is more knowledgeable about port tell me if it is more like the Frank Family port or not?

Zinfandel is generally my go-to wine (Decoy, Ballentine) so I should jump on this anyway. However, like I said, we just got back from CA and brought 3 cases of various wines home with us.

I'd 2nd the suggestion of some sort of wine storage rack from wine.woot or home.woot btw!

J

Well, the Frank Family one was aged for 40 months, while the Ballentine was only aged for 22 months. But it could also be due to the residual sugar (which neither stated).

Have you had the EOS Zin Port? Although that one is only 80% Zin (with the remainder 20% PS), and only 12 months in barrels, it shows 9.2% RS.


Of the two you tried, was one more syrupy than the other? Similar to an Ice Wine? Because I've found I really don't like those thicker styles.

MarkDaSpark wrote:
Have you had the EOS Zin Port? Although that one is only 80% Zin (with the remainder 20% PS), and only 12 months in barrels, it shows 9.2% RS.


Of the two you tried, was one more syrupy than the other? Similar to an Ice Wine? Because I've found I really don't like those thicker styles.

The only two ports I've tried are Frank Family and Ballentine. The Ballentine was way sweeter I thought. Also, it was made with their own homemade Zinfandel Brandy, so it is 100% Zinfandel.

The Frank Family had a more Brandy taste to it. Of course I paid $65 for just the port and this woot deal is $65 for two bottles of Zin AND a bottle of port!

We were going to try Prager while up that way but just never got around to it. Maybe next time.

J

EDIT: I tried calling both Ballentine and Frank Family and neither could tell me what the RS is in either port. FF is supposed to call me back with the info.

EDIT #2: Frank Family called back and said the RS in their port is 12%.

I've been wrestling with my conscience over this posting (the more people I tell, the less there will be for me), but The Right Thing won out.

You should also try the J. Dusi Pinot Gris and the Syrahs. Big Yum on both.

Thanks Carol, you have been a Club member since almost the beginning!
The new Pinot Gris is bottled and better than ever.... both that and the Syrah are in March's club shipment.

jdusiwines wrote:Thanks Carol, you have been a Club member since almost the beginning!
The new Pinot Gris is bottled and better than ever.... both that and the Syrah are in March's club shipment.

Janell,

Is there any way to set up an appointment to taste the J. Dusi lineup? I know you don't have a tasting room, but the next time I am down in Paso I would like to try the lineup. Do you participate in any events? Thanks.

jelliott04 wrote:The only two ports I've tried are Frank Family and Ballentine. The Ballentine was way sweeter I thought. Also, it was made with their own homemade Zinfandel Brandy, so it is 100% Zinfandel.

The Frank Family had a more Brandy taste to it. Of course I paid $65 for just the port and this woot deal is $65 for two bottles of Zin AND a bottle of port!

We were going to try Prager while up that way but just never got around to it. Maybe next time.

J

EDIT: I tried calling both Ballentine and Frank Family and neither could tell me what the RS is in either port. FF is supposed to call me back with the info.

EDIT #2: Frank Family called back and said the RS in their port is 12%.

Don't pass up a chance to visit Prager if you like ports. I was there in 2007 and their ports were amazing. Also, the tasting room is unique. They offer several different types, each one better than the last!! Got a bottle of Noble Companion last year as a birthday gift- yum!!

Love to see Paso on WOOT!!!