2007 Laurel Glen Reds – $10

One of the first wines I ever hand sold and fell in love with was Laurel Glen Reds 1993 Vintage.  It was there inaugural vintage and it was spicy and jammy, concentrated and full bodied, yet elegant.  It was everything you could want in a wine.

Last week I tasted the 2007 Vintage and it harkened back to my younger days.  It’s so hard to find a wine that is jammy and concentrated, yet is elegant on the finish.  This wine delivers.  It is a blend of 60% Zinfandel (40-80 year old vines), 30% Carignane (118 year old vines), and 10% Petite Sirah (20 year old vines).

Lots of bang for your buck here! Buy this one by the case. Enjoy!

2007 Four Vines Maverick Zinfandel Amador County – $16

Four Vines Winery is Christian Tietje‘s 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.

Zin explained – not Primitivo but related

Zinfandel / Primitivo / Crljenak

Zinfandel was for many years somewhat of a mystery grape, as far as its origins are concerned. Recent research in Croatia and at the University of California at Davis, using DNA profiling, has proved Zinfandel is a clone of the Croatian variety Crljenak. While it had been theorized that Zinfandel’s genetic twin, the Italian Primitivo, was the source, this grape also originally mutated from Crljenak. Further research may indicate the very first plantings migrated from Albania or Greece.

In April 2002, the ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU announced that they are considering ruling Zinfandel and Primitivo synonymous for use on wine labels. Producers of California Zinfandel objected, anticipating that Italian producers with a bountiful supply would then be able to undercut the market with inexpensive Primitivo wine labeled “Zinfandel”.

Nearly as versatile as Chardonnay in the number of different styles of wine produced from it, Zinfandel only achieved widespread popularity in America, starting about 1980, as a pink, slightly sweet wine. In fact, this popularity so outstripped all other forms, that many fans think that there is actually a grape called “White Zinfandel” (there isn’t)!

Zinfandel as a red wine can be made light and fruity, much like French Beaujolais, or lively, complex and age worthy, like Cabernet or claret. It can also be made into big, ripe, high alcohol style wines that resemble Port. Zinfandel is also a component of most California “jug” wines, since it is the most widely planted red wine grape.

This vineyard proliferation can be attributed to zinfandel’s hardy nature. Adaptable to a wide range of soils and climates, its vines tend to be vigorous and productive. Zinfandel also has a frequent tendency to set a second crop.

The clusters are compact and full and the berry stems (peduncles) somewhat short. These factors make Zinfandel somewhat susceptible to bunch rot and some types of mildew. Water management is particularly critical to raising Zinfandel. Under stress from lack of moisture, it is prone to raisining. It also ripens more unevenly than most other varieties and it is not uncommon for green and raisined berries to occur within the same cluster. This tendency to can be aggravated by poorly-timed irrigation. Uneven ripening also means that machine-picking is impractical and a Zinfandel vineyard may often require a few passes, days apart, to harvest all the fruit with the same level of maturity.

Because of its vigor, generosity and resistance to vine disease, many zinfandel vineyards exist that are 75 to 100 or more years old. Zinfandel aficionados believe these “old vines” produce the best wines, because the older vineyards set smaller crops and the grapes tend to ripen more evenly.

(courtesy best-fine-wine.com)

2007 Hey Mambo Red Blend – $10

No offense to Lee Meriwether or Eartha Kitt, but my “purrfect” Catwoman was Julie Newmar. Meowing in that leather outfit, she simply purred sultriness.

Just like this “Zorked“* wine! A blend of Syrah, Barbera, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Malbec, and Alicante Bouschet, she bills herself as the “Sultry Red” and has notes of Catwoman’s leather on the nose as well as dark fruit and tobacco.

And just like Julie back in the day, this wine is soft, silky, supple and intense. She stays with you for a long time after feeding you dark berries, cassis, black pepper and spices. She will intoxicate you as well with her 13.5% alcohol content.

Drink her in with some pizza, burgers, pasta or turkey chili.

*Zork: an alternative wine closure that seals like a screw cap and pops like a cork.

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, and makes no apologies. He makes wines named Loco, Heretic and the Biker and is known affectionately as 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.

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