#Zinbitch

[wine-porn]

Fergie

Paso Zin is NOT something which crosses my desk often, for a lot of reasons you all understand. This one’s kinda fun though. Fun. I’m gonna leave it there. It’s not the kind of Zin I would immediately pick out of a group as my favorite, but it checks a lot of boxes most expect from the variety. Besides, it’s fun. Transparent garnet, a nose of roasted dog park and intense syrup, the briar on 11…

[luvabigglassored]

Summer Reds

A natural assumption is that, when it’s hot outside you should drink a well chilled Ros�� or white wine like a crisp Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay, but that couldn’t be further from the truth!

Aside from putting in a pitch for an Albarino I’ve fallen hard for: Brecon Estate’s 2017 True Acacia Head Albarino, I’m pretty much drinking lighter, spicier reds and not too sweet Rosés as summer starts…

[cincirican]

Don't ever take me wine tastings. Too much Zinfandel turns me into a ... #zinbitch #winetasting #californiadreaming #wanderlust #windycitybloggers #instannoying #wine #vacation

[the-covetedcloset]

Tastes like home. #zinbitch #cypherwinery #centralcoast

[beverlyhillsporsche-blog]

Last "Red" of the Day! Not a #Porsche but just as bold and exciting. #Cypher 2010 #PasoRobles #ZinBitch

[wine-porn]

Barr Nothing

Ahhhhh Mendo Zin. One of the great pleasures in life. Mendo hits differently–whether it’s Pinot, Cab, or ZINFANDEL. I like to say the typical expressions from each of these three are related: it’s a vegetal thing, a funk and ire thing, a grainy structure thing–often hard to explain. This one fits well into the catagory, feeling Italian and rustic on one hand while expressing rather elegant focus…

[wine-porn]

No Bling-Jeans

Well, it’s definitely Zin. An over-simplified statement, perhaps, but with Zin, that’s the first–and most important–qualifier…considering the sins committed against the grape in the past 30 years. Sure, we like pinot to act like pinot and grenache to smell like grenache and chard to taste like chard, but as someone who regularly gets accused of wanting my zins to taste like cab, it’s an important…

[wine-porn]

Play Zin for me

My days on the Zinfandel stump are long over, but I do occasionally dip into one. I search them out FAR more carefullyer than I did 20 or 30 years ago, and I will take the high road and say my palate has matured–though those in the back rows know the better wines have become fewer and far between. Paso Robles is the Mecca of bad Zin, but there are bright spots–still. Producers striving for…

[wine-porn]

rawr

Sweet ratchety fruit, bruised and blunt with weedy angst. Curvy cherry lays down pompous beats of hot-rod day-glo and tire rubber in a brilliant light ruby headed purple haze and fire-engine sunsets. Clean and chalky in the nose, portions of a bitter green tattoo visible where touchable lines head down into imagination. “Ah yes,” my Zinfandel friend says, “let me introduce you to some of my…

[wine-porn]

Worth the Price

I furrow my brow a bit when heading into a bottle co-labeled “Zinfandel” and “Paso Robles”, as experience has taught extremely few will match my standards of the variety. There are some–and I’m always looking, as I have an open mind, despite heinous rumors to the contrary. This one showed great promise on initial sniffs: tight and un-slutty, muted flowery complexity shrouded in structure, so I…

[wine-porn]

Pirate Zin

Medium ruby right out to the thin pink edge. Nice weedy nose, ALL ZINFANDEL. Dark fruit, ripe fruit, sweet bruised berries, dark and gothic, glaring fried egg savory over their black coffee and celery sticks, clove cigarettes and thrift-store sharkskin. Muddy-sharp. Peaty loam freshly turned, grass roots reaching down and snapping under the oiled shovel. Velouté on boiled penne, cranberry bogs,…

[wine-porn]

Back to Basics

Back to basics, and when I say *basics*, I know this will be out of the wheelhouse of almost ALL self-acclaimed Zin-freaks, and even for hardcore old-timers raised on pithy, bright Cal-Ital versions from Sonoma and St. Helena, Mendo and the Central Valley, this will probably raise eyebrows for its brightness, raw intensity and low alc. Daringly bottled in flint, the florescent blue-purple rim…

[wine-porn]

Wine for the 99

A thick stew of soggy macerated fruit greets the nose, acentuated by a pleasant side-helping of strong briary angst and copious Christmas spice. Definite deep earthy notes are also a big plus but the gravitas of all elements combined give strong forebodings to typicity and dearthy expected outcomes. Dark, deep black in the glass with barely-softening edges of ruddy garnet. Piles of salty leather…

[wine-porn]

One Dragon

This is a rather interesting wine. Not trying to sound surprised, but the horrible label, mom & pop title, and sketchy origin all add up to *expectations*. Not to mention: it IS Zinfandel, and SOOOO many crimes are committed against this grape in California. Didn’t even check the alcohol–something I’m fairly fastidious about with this variety: because of those afore-mentioned sins. Rosy ruby in…

[wine-porn]

Firebird

I’m very picky about my Paso Zin–for reasons *most* of you understand, but manages to cause a lot of head-scratching for the un-initiated. It’s going to be ripe–that’s just a given–but it needs to pull distinct varietal characteristics out without singing to the syrup-gods the *Drink What You Like* crowd fawns over. This one is pale garnet in the glass, and headed into 4 years, it feels like age…

[wine-porn]

Old Hat

This is fun, safe Zinfandel, inexpensive and with just enough sexy charm. See, with any other variety, “safe” from me would be a negative, but with Zin, *safe* is a huge compliment. I detest the all-too-common concoctions shooting for the stars and jamming up the rafters. This does neither, benefiting hugely from the fact it is from Napa Valley: MY favorite source for zin (St. Helena to be…