Hatfield Creek - we enjoy this place because the staff
are friendly, the winemaker Elaine is well-informed
and also friendly, and they give us free samples when
we come in (because of the wine club membership).
These were a couple subscription bottles at the house:

Syrah 15 - leather, Band-Aid, and blueberries on
the distinctly unsweet nose. Rather thin, with a
milky disappearing palate, sweeter than the below,
strangely. Mild berry finish. Didn't much like.

Syrah 16 - sweet aromas of blueberry, blackberry,
and chocolate, in that order. The taste is not sweet
at all, quite acidy with a bit of puckery tannin.
Cooked fruit on the palate but fresh blueberry coming
out later. Finish of mixed berries and tea. I'd say
keep this for a year or two, but too bad, the need was
acute, so we'd actually have to buy some more, and,
frankly, for the same money we get twice as many
bottles of equal quality at Costco.

I decided the 15 would be okay put in a sauce, but when
reaching for it, I grabbed the 2016 instead. The sauce
was fine, but then I still had to do something with the
15. I ended up mixing it into the oversoft, overfruity,
and characterless (but defect-free and thus very highly
rated) Dona Paula Estate Malbec (Mendoza) 15 and I think
improving both wines.

Kirkland Alexander Valley Cabernet 15 - this had been
left open a week, and Lilli warned me against it. It
was really good, probably better than when it was new.
The putative youth (I wasn't around when she first
opened it) had given way to mellow depth, dark cooked
fruit, and some menthol. Quite a good wine for $10, so
less than half the price of Hatfield Creek wines.

Kirkland Sonoma County Old Vines Zinfandel 15 - I
enjoyed this as well, but Lilli found it offputting.
Quite spicy and plummy the way it's supposed to be,
but there was a chemical thing going on that blew
off next day, making it actually quite a decent wine.
A bit over a third the price of Hatfield Creek wines.

Gnarly Head Old Vines Zinfandel 16 - lots of fruit,
too much, too obvious I thought, though Lilli liked
it. We left it overnight, and next day it was much
improved, possibly because it was served with pork
with a slightly sweet BBQ sauce, more later on that.
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