Dave Phinney, of Orin Swift fame, is a WINEMAKER. He starts out with the strongest of raw materials – and then pushes them very much towards the style of wine he seeks. (And that his followers crave.) In that sense, he may be the successor to Jed Steele. Dave Phinney’s fans know a Dave Phinney wine when they taste one.
That said, his remarkable new 2021 8 Years in the Desert Zinfandel blend has, I believe, the strongest raw materials of any Dave Phinney wine I’ve ever tasted. So strong that the wine’s inherent quality shines above even the Phinney signature.
