I am a long-term fan of these wines. Please post after you taste it. I am very interested in your views.
Well you guys seem to have this topic covered! And a great daily drinker young or old.
It’s one of the best “cocktail” wines.
Doesn’t require food to show well…
It really does well with rhone varieties, and lends big brambly fruit and loads of spice while managing American oak very well. Many great points above too, Zin’s ‘big on flavor low on tannin’ combo make it fairly popular. I find I love it when it is in a blend, as the dominant but not overwhelming grape. I think Geyserville is in the ~70% Zinfandel area, and some of Bedrock’s are too. Once a wine is officially monovarietal I (generally) find myself enjoying it less. An exceptions is Rafanelli, which is all Zinfandel save for a bit of Petite Sirah.
What he said!
Just skip all the other words and go try it.
Hell, if we only knew about sex by reading about it we’d never try it.
Even the very best zinfandels in the world aren’t all that expensive and you can get a better wine at the ~$20 price point from Zinfandel than you can from almost anywhere.
flavour
Some of the Ridge’s go really well with Sushi…you may be surprised, but try it with eel, or our local sushi restaurant makes a Shiitake maki that it pairs really well with also.
BOOM!
For me it’s largely a QPR thing. World class Zin costs me 40-45 dollars a bottle at most while a world class Cab is likely hundreds. I get just as much enjoyment out of the Zin.
I also find that Zin made from mountain fruit has a wonderful pepper streak almost like a great northern Rhone with age.
I’ll just add that there are a variety of styles, everyone from AFWE to Purple Drankers can find something to like.
Personally, I’ll reach for Ridge Geyserville or Scherrer OMV.
Biggest appeal for me is that there is no pretense involved.
Zinfandel is usually well-priced, easy to drink and very versatile with food. We had a 2012 Carlisle Montafi last night with grilled chicken. A great pairing!
Thanks,
Ed
Like picking ripe blackberries, black raspberries, and raspberries berries at the height of summer ripeness, throwing them in your mouth and chomping down at them at the same time to release their flavors…as simple a feeling as that.
Less filling
Yes.
Well said.
I think this comes closest to where I am with Zin right now. It has also become very much a wine that I think of food-first “OK, need a Zin to open with this!”. I don’t have (and wish I did) much access to older Ridge, etc. which gives you a different look at this grape. I don’t have a lot in the cellar but actually wish I had a bit more, especially Carlisle, Rafanelli, Venge and Bedrock.
Slainte,
Mike
Man, I love me some Zinfandel.
Forgetting about individual producers, to me, there is a distinctiveness to the variety that is very appealing - in the same sense that there is with Grenache. Whether it is ‘ripe’ or not, you can most often tell that a wine is a zin - and unfortunately, this cannot be said with so many other wines being produced these days. And for the most part, that holds for a wine that is $10 up to a single vineyard wine that may be $40 or $50.
I do find that as most zins age, they tend to ‘lose’ a bit of that distinctiveness and turn into something altogether beautiful but different.
I like the comments made by others that it’s not a pretentious variety.
Cheers!