COLOR: Cranberry juice cocktail with a little added thickness. This stuff even looks tart.

NOSE: Cranberries coming through along with a backbone of overripe cherries. Smells very fresh for a six-year-old wine.

TASTE: Those overripe cherries have corrected themselves and become stewed. We’ve also got some plums making an appearance, underscored by a nice shot of chocolate in the mid-palate. Since when does that happen in a Zinfandel?
This sucker is big and beefy. It’s like seeing a 5-foot tall 130 lb. dude walk into your garage and lift up your car. Then some black pepper finishes things off and lasts for days.
Come to think of it, this wine is pretty freaky. I’m going to stop talking about it now.

WITH FOOD: I’m too frightened at this point, so I’ll make this quick: Duck, steak, buffalo, venison and maybe even turkey (runs out of the room).

WHERE TO BUY: $13.99 at PacificWineClub.com!

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Kenwood is a solid producer out of the Sonoma Valley of California. They have many different “collections” of wine that vary in style and quality, but so far, we’ve been unable to find a bad one. The Kenwood Yulupa Zinfandel is an old vine Zinfandel, meaning the vines that produced these grapes are older than all of us.

Color

Great silky burgundy. Fresh and lively in the glass

Nose

Fig Newton cookies and blackberry juice. There is a bit of spice as well, but the figs overpower everything; ancient-smelling and delicious.

Taste

While Fig Newtons were on the nose, they are not in the flavor of the wine. The figs are more concentrated, similar to fig preserves or even pickled figs. Seriously, this wine is fig-tastic; more than any other red wine we’ve tasted. Though only a few years old, the flavor of figs overpowered everything. Great tannins balance them out, with every other fruit smothered. We don’t like the finish, as it’s rather abrupt and a bit of a tease given the delicious smell and flavor.

With Food

Great fruit and cheese wine. At this price point, this could be an end-of-the-evening wine served with figs (duh), peaches, apple, cherries and some hard, smelly cheeses like Manchego or an aged cheddar. Avoid the creamy cheeses. If you want it with a meal, stone fruit-roasted chicken, pork, lamb or especially TURKEY would be ideal. A great Thanksgiving wine.

$9.31 at InternetWines.com!

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With the 4th of July holiday fast approaching, and the BevMo 5¢ Wine Sale still going strong, we are going to steer you toward some great BBQ wines for the remainder of the week. The 4th of July is of course, along with Memorial Day, one of the biggest BBQ holidays America has.

Zinfandel, along with Syrah, Cabernet and Malbec, makes a fantastic BBQ wine, and might just even be the best. Not to be confused with White Zinfandel, though they both come from the same grape, red Zinfandel could be called “California’s Wine,” since the best Zinfandels in the world tend to come from Cali. Italy is really the only other region that produces good Zins (the Puglia region specifically) but California Zinfandel accounts for the majority of Zinfandel wine produced. The Zinfandel grape is also known as Primitivo in some circles.

The Zynthesis Zinfandel is what is known as an “Old Vine” Zinfandel, which is pretty self-explanatory. The important thing to remember is that Old Vine Zinfandels tend to be more concentrated, potent and explosive. Since the vines are so old (ancient in some cases), they are able to ripen with a much higher concentration of fruit flavor, making the wine able to stand up to the fiercest of steaks.

With that, let’s get into the Zynthesis Old Vine Zinfandel 2007 from Lodi.

Good News: Deep, rich red color, as is common in Zinfandels, with a strong stewed fruit scent. Give it a minute to open up in the glass (or through decanting) and you will find juicy black plums, cedar, and raisin smells. In fact, mix all of those together in a pot of boiling port wine and throw in some cloves. That’s the smell. Starting to understand why this is good for BBQ yet?

Now, many of the wines we have reviewed differ greatly between the nose and the actual taste, but the Zynthesis Zinfandel does not. A very full mouthfeel with even-handed tannins and a silky finish. The tannins won’t turn your tongue into leather because the fruit is powerful enough to balance them. The plums, raisins, cedar, and even a bit of smoke all meld together and make you want to literally chew the wine. Chewy wines are some of our favorites, and we haven’t referred to many of the reds we have reviewed as “chewy” yet, so this is really a find.

With Food: Duh. BBQ, BBQ, BBQ. The one thing we will tell you to avoid is barbecued fish. The Zynthesis Zinfandel and grilled fish just don’t match very well because of the fish aftertaste. There is nothing in the wine to combat that and it will leave a rather unpleasent flavor combination in your mouth. But, who are we to tell you what to do?

$16.04 for 2 bottles at the BevMo 5¢ Wine Sale!

$11.99 at Sea Grape Wines after the sale.

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