2007 Ravenswood Vintners Blend Zinfandel $8

Back in 1994 or 1995, Vintners Blend was the very first wine that caught my attention, it was the “house wine” for a now defunct local restaurant aptly named Zinfandels. I went thru quite a few bottles of this back in the day, it actually cost 4 bucks more back then. After a few years I got turned on to other wines and I forgot about Ravenswood and it’s been 10 years since I tried a bottle of the Vintners Blend. This Zin is sourced from vineyards all over California, it’s 76% Zinfandel (in California to be a single varietal the bottle must contain at least 75% of that grape), plus 9% Carignane ( a blending grape used to give the wine color and acidity, 8% Petite Sirah ( a grape that also adds color, tannins and a dark blueberry flavor) and 7% mixed blacks ( various red grapes). The ’94 was a really tasty wine, I hope the ’07 still has some pazazz.

The color is Dorothy’s ruby slippers red, crystal clear and see thru. Not a bad nose, cherry cough drops, hints of menthol, plums and some kind of savory stewed meat thing going on. The first flavor is dark fruit and then a hit of oak in the back of your mouth. The second sip brought strawberries and raspberries and a dose of spice. It has a persistent cola flavored finish. Soft and smooth for a zinfandel, but good tasting. This would be the perfect wine to have with BBQ ribs.

Is the Vintners Blend as good now as it was 15 years ago? I don’t know, my palate has changed since those days, but I liked it then and I like it now. So kudos to Joel Peterson, the Vintner, for keeping the quality of this value priced wine consistent for all these years.

2006 Nine X Nine Old Vines Lodi Zinfandel – $10

Here’s a wine fact for you, Lodi, California has a similar climate to areas along the Mediterranean Sea and the soil is comparable to the Chateauneuf du Pape region in the Rhone Valley in France. With that said, this Zin is made from grapes grown in a very traditional Lodi style. The grape vines are pruned into free standing bushes or small trees not the typical wire supports you see on most vines and are planted on a square grid nine feet away from each other in all direction, hence the Nine X Nine name. It is aged 18 months in neutral oak to soften the wine and give it a touch of vanilla, the alcohol is 14.5%.

The color is the deep dark opaque red that Zin’s are supposed to have. The nose is dark jammy fruit with a bit of alcohol coming through. It tastes of blueberries, a bit of sweet spices and a late splash of cola. The mouth feel is little watery and the tannins are there, but in the backround. The overall impression is that this is a smooth and soft wine. The finish reminds me of the old-fashioned blueberry soda they sell at Trader Joe’s.

Now, I must say I tend to like my Zinfandel’s big and bold, a little on the rough side, and this isn’t one of those Zin’s. But, it is very drinkable, it has a very pleasing flavor, if you like your wines smooth and tasty,  this one is worth a try.

2005 Fife Max Cuvee California Red Wine – $7

I picked up this Zinfandel Blend at Trader Joe’s, I tried to find some information about the Max Cuvee on the internet and found nothing. Fife made a Napa Max Cuvee in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, but  their website makes no mention of a 2005 vintage. So there is something up with this Zinfandel, Syrah, Sangiovese and Petite Syrah blend, nobody puts 4 years of bottle age on a wine to sell it for only 7 bucks. It’s also aged in French oak, which is the most expensive of all the oak used for wine barrels. The sign above the wine at Trader Joe’s said it was sourced from Mendocino County, but the label only says California. So what’s the story with the Max Cuvee?

Nice dark ruby red color, just what you would expect for a Zin blend. The nose was a little tight and oaky, the first sip was all tannins and oak, everything was happening in the back of my mouth, no fruit upfront. Had to sit it down for awhile to let it open up, decanting this wine would be a wise move. After it opened up, the fruit came out and balanced out the tannins and oak, much better. Nice chewy dark fruit and lots of spice with a little hit of oak in the back.The more this opens up, the better it tastes, don’t rush this wine. The finish is not huge but it does linger awhile with a vanilla cola flavor. All in all, a real nice bottle of wine for seven dollars. I don’t think they ever meant to sell this for $7 bucks, but their loss is our gain, so enjoy.

UPDATE : Fife Winery’s has been sold and these Trader Joe’s Fife Wines are made from juice leftover from the old owners. I don’t know if the leftover wine was ever intended to be made into Fife label wines or were intended to be sold off to other labels. But I am sure they never intended to sell these wines for $7.

2007 Four Vines Maverick Zinfandel Amador County – $16

Four Vines Winery is a Zinfandel House, it’s what they do. Sourced from 100 year old vines in the Shenedoah Valley in the Sierra Foothills of Amador County with a little Syrah poured in to  smooth things out. About 5,000 cases produced and the alcohol content is 14.9%.

This is a big and bold , crowd pleaser of a Zin. The nose is fragrant, spice and fruit. The flavor is black and blueberry, white pepper and christmas spice. The finish is a lingering berry and vanilla. The color of the wine is a see-thru ruby red, kind of pretty. The tannins don’t intrude, Zins can be sort of rough, but this is balanced and smooth (for a ZIn).

I checked the prices for this Zin on the web and the suggested price is $25 and the net prices are between $20 and $25, I paid $15.99. The one thing good about a bad economy is that there are bargains available if you know where to find them.

2006 Four Vines Old Vines Zinfandel – $12

This is another “follow the wine maker” wine. Christian Tietje (based out of Paso Robles) is something of an outlaw winemaker, he makes wine the way he wants to and does not pay a great deal of attention to tradition. He makes wines named Loco, Heretic and the Biker and he calls himself the “Zinbitch”. The Old Vines Cuvee Zinfandel is his entry level red wine and he calls it the “best” deal in red wine.

Zinfandel is the American grape, most varietals come from France, Spain or Italy, but not Zinfandel. Now, I know all about how they traced this grape back to Croatia, but as they say, use it or lose it, and when’s the last time you had a Croatian Zinfandel. So, it’s our grape now, we should be using Zinfandel for making toasts on the 4th of July!

The Four Vines Old Vines Cuvee Zinfandel is sourced from vineyards all over Northern California and was aged in small French and American oak barrels. Alcohol content is listed as 14.6%, and the alcohol and the tannins are well balanced. This is a bit of a throw back Zin, big, bold and spicy. Tastes of jammy black and blue berries upfront with that nice Zin spice cutting right into all that jammy fruit.The finish has nice vanilla notes with some cola flavors. Not a good Zinfandel for the price, but a straight up real solid Zin,period. Should be widely available for around 12 bucks.

Artezin Dry Creek Zinfandel 2006

Nice dark ruby color, but on the nose I wasn’t happy.  I was smelling weeds, bug spray and peanuts.  I bravely went in for a taste and was rewarded!  I got a very different taste than smell which doesn’t happen very often.  In the mouth the wine had great texture and feel with some decent complexity.  I’d guess that a real wino would be able to identify more in this wine than I can.  I tasted sweet blackberry, black cherry,  jam and sage.  I don’t know when I’ve had such a bad reaction to a nose of a wine and then found the mouth to be that much better.  Since we really care how the wine tastes I have to say that this is a pretty good wine.  Wine.com has it selling for 40% off right now so jump on it while you can.

Price: $17
Vintage: 2006
Varietal: Zinfandel
Country: USA – CA
Cheap Wine Rating: 88

Buy it here: Wine.com

Kenwood Zinfandel 2005

Thanks to Deboss for another great wine pick.  I first had this wine a couple weeks ago at a friends house and we all liked it so much I went out and bought a bottle of my own.  You can find this wine for around $10 at your local Safeway and Giant.  Wine.com has it for $12.

The Zin is a blend from two different vineyards.  Each was fermented in stainless steel and then aged separately in American and French barrels before being blended together and bottled. The winemaker says that although it is enjoyable now it will age well for another decade.

On the nose of this wine we got cherry, herbs and a little oak.  There was also a litle bit of floral on the nose which I usually pick up in the zinfandels.  The taste was full of more cherry and red fruit with a little bit of herbs and mocha.  It was very smooth and well balanced.

Price: $11
Vintage: 2005
Varietal: Zinfandel
Country: USA – CA
Cheap Wine Rating: 94

Buy it here: Wine.com

Seghesio Zinfandel Sonoma County 2007

A big picture for a big wine. This one is a special zinfandel. Best of all you can find it at your local premium grocery and wine store. Actually, best of all, its available for under $20 Read more

Cellar No. 8 Zinfandel 2005

This is what I’m talking about right here.   What don’t I like about this wine?… I love the price, the labeling, the nose, the mouth.   Everything comes together to make this a winner.   This Read more