Well, ZAP wasn't nearly as rambunctious as I thought that it would have been. Other than a couple drunkards and a "feeding frenzy" towards the end, it was pretty mellow.There was a nice bread and cheese layout, doughnuts in the morning for the wineries, and of course plenty of Zin to be had. With so many wineries it is seriously impossible to try them all, or for that matter put a dent in them.
I managed to slip out during the industry tasting (From 10a-1p) to try some wines... made it to Ridge (all barrel samples... I prefer to have current releases for a couple of different reasons; nose, tightness etc.), Seghesio (07s were great), Rockwall (Rosenblums spin off), Venge (one of my Fav's... Scout's Honor was killer), Sausal, Starlite, Cougars Leap, Turley (the name says it all), D Cubed (nice zins... really liked the St. Helena and Fritz (great varietal characteristics... nice and juicy, but not over the top). I'm sure there were a few others in there too. Unfortunately I had to speed through the process. Of course, when trying that much wine at that alcohol content, you have to spit or else...
Clos LaChance was unique with the two dessert wines being poured; Late Harvest Zinfandel and Zinfandel Port. Both of these wines were very popular, and helped to make us memorable. Also, our two dry Zins are most excellent, and many found them quite pleasing. All in all, seemed to be a great time for both the consumers and the vendors.
