WINO 101

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Oh, gloriouZ day! It’Z time for the Fa-ZIN-Tastic, ZIN-Sational, Totally ZIN-Pressive Weekly New-ZIN-letter and Tas-ZIN-Ting Announ-ZIN-ment For Carpe ZINum! You’ll never gueZZ what we’re taZting thiZ week! That’Z right! It’s all CHARDONNAY! (JuZt kidding. We’d never do that to you.) It’Z ZINFANDEL! It’Z America’Z “Heritage Grape,” or at leaZt what Zome people are calling it, conZidering it waZ juZt an orphan vine from Croatia trying to eek out a meager living during the California gold rush dayZ. That gold rush turned out to be moZtly tall taleZ, but perhapZ it waZ all about the Zinfandel, in actuality. That’Z a different kind of liquid gold. PerhapZ not the kind to make a family of hillbillieZ move to California. Oh, wait. . .maybe it is. . .if they moved there to grow Zome of those great grapeZ.

Okay. I’ll stop with all the Zs for now. If I continue, I may break my spellchecker and I believe I’ve made my point, already. Point being that Zinfandel is a fun wine. It’s bold and fruity, and mostly American. True, the grape has been traced back to an obscure varietal in Croatia where it is almost nonexistent now, and is also grown in Italy under the name “Primitivo”, but the United States is the first place to really market single-varietal wines out of the almighty Zinfandel. And it’s got a cult status of all its own.

The history of the Zinfandel is still being researched, as how it found its way to the US was a bit confusing and is often disputed. The most popular theory is where vine clippings were brought during the 1800s from an Austrian vine collection. It was popular in California, firstly as table grapes, then during the first wine boom in the late 1800s when there was the first appearance in the world of a wine bottled with the name “Zinfandel”. From there it’s all History.

California is not the only state in the country to grow these impressive grapes. We actually have some Zinfandel in Oregon. And the vines are over 100 years old, making it the impressive and highly-sought-after “Old Vine” Zinfandel. How could this come to be? Well, it came to be by planting it that long ago, really. That’s just the kind of thing that seems pretty darn lucky, as no one could have foreseen that Zinfandel would actually grow in Oregon, much less make a great wine here, too. At any rate, that vineyard is The Pines vineyard located out towards The Dalles. Planted about 110 years ago, ignored for about a century, and then rediscovered while clearing some brush. What a stroke of luck, eh? ***(Note at bottom.)***

Well, these Zin tastings are always one of my favorites. I get to scour the wine scene for new and interesting Zins and see what great values are out there. For this tasting, I came across a Primitivo that was actually worth giving a try. As you might remember from a couple paragraphs ago, Primitivo is the Italian name for Zinfandel. It’s the same grape, but totally different styles and, of course, grown in Italy. I thought it might be interesting to try that out this time around. Also, I’ve been seeing a number of Late-Harvest Zinfandels out in the scene lately. This is different than the Zin ports we’ve seen in the past. Port is made by halting the fermentation by adding alcohol, Late-Harvest is leaving the grapes on the vine until they are extremely ripe and sometimes raisinated and often botrytized (moldy). This makes for a decadent, delicious sweet dessert wine, and I can’t wait to try this one out! The rest aren’t oddballs like those two, they’re just good solid Zins!

So Friday, September 22nd, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Zin!!!
Forte Canto 2004 Primitivo, Puglia, Italy
McManis 2005 Zinfandel, California
Castle Rock 2004 Zinfandel, Sonoma County, California
Lolonis 2004 Zinfandel, Redwood Valley, California (Organic)
Schuetz Oles 2001 Zinfandel, Korte Ranch, Napa Valley, California

More Zin!!!
Robert Biale 2004 Zinfandel, Napa Ranches, Napa Valley, California
Hendry 2003 Block 7 Zinfandel, Napa Valley, California

Late-Harvest Zin!!!
Dashe 2004 Late-Harvest Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley, California

A stellar deal at $10 for the First 5, $6 for the Extra 2 Premium Pours, $5 for the Late-Harvest Zin.
Hope to see you here!

Seize the Wine!

Next Friday tasting is Wines of Australia (with a bit of Live In-House music from Floating Pointe)!

M

***So I tasted some of the new release of The Pines 2005 Zinfandel yesterday, and it is delicious stuff, but is freshly bottled and still needs a bit of time to rest and become the bottled monster it wants to be. So with that in mind, I’m not going to pour it, tomorrow, as it would be a shame to pour it before it’s ready. Why am I telling you this then? Well, it was just released this month, and it had completely sold out at the distributor within a day. I was only allocated a case of it, of which only 8 bottles remain. It’s at $34.95, and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. If I get a good heads-up on who might like a bottle or two, I might be able to get a few more. But it is very limited.