Pure Bred Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel 2017

The Story

The Pure Bred Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel 2017 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s (maybe exclusive). The reason I say maybe is this wine seems to be a close-out wine of some sort. The listed winery on the back of the label, West Coast Wine Group, Lodi, California, no longer has a website. Their URL, which is under their name, now sells online generic drugs. Maybe they forgot to re-up their domain name or maybe they changed their name or are no longer in business. But the 2016 Pure Bred Lodi Zinfandel sold online for $16.99 and another site had this 2017 vintage for $11.99. At some point, the Pure Bred Zin was a 17 dollar wine, since their website is down it would seem that this is some sort of distress sale, closing out of inventory.

With store brands, contract brands you know you are getting wine at a discounted price, but it isn’t easy to figure out the size of the discount. Here we know, the old price, $16.99, the new price, $6.99. In the accompanying podcast, we will go into detail on why old vines are a good thing and why they seem to be so abundant in Lodi. For now, we are happy to be drinking a Zinfandel selling for roughly 60% off. The alcohol content is 14.8%.

The Tasting Notes

The color is a still see-thru, black cherry red, with a clear halo. The nose is ripe and meaty, there is blackberry, mushroom, herbs, cherry, black pepper, baking spices, and dark chocolate. This is a medium-plus bodied ZIN, smooth with a nice sharp slap of spice. It starts with a mix of milk chocolate, black cherry, and black pepper (sounds awful, but actually tastes good.), raspberry, and spice. The mid-palate shows creamy vanilla, herbs, blueberry, and orange peel. The tannins are smooth and the acidity does its job. The finish is full and sticks around.

The Summary

• This wine is easy, it is a Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel, you basically know what to expect, and it sells for 60% off the list price. If you enjoy Zinfandel there is no reason not to give the Pure Bred Old Vine Zinfandel a try.
• It isn’t my favorite Lodi ZIn, but it is a very respectable effort, it is enjoyable to drink and $6.99 is a ridiculous price.