Dancing Bull Zinfandel, Pretty darn good
The word Zinfandel tends to conjure up images of blue haired ladies sipping on sickly sweet pink wine but there is a whole other side to Zinfandels. Rancho Zabaco's 2003 Dancing Bull is a great example of the full bodied, fruity lusciousness that characterizes the Zinfandel. It was reasonably priced at $16 and a great sipping, blogging wine.
Now on a slightly different note, I feel I need to respond to Melanie's comment on Jess' last post on Virgin Vines. I was thinking about the term snobby, which to me, means elitist. I think there is a difference between being snobby and being a socially conscious consumer, if anything, we are anti-elitist, reversal snobbery, if you will. We just want to try to support the small, passionate, family vineyard wherever possible because that is who we are. Cheers!
~Christle~
Virgin Vines Shiraz...Evil Corporation Wine?!
Jess left a note on my doorstep last night with this bottle of wine. She said it caught her eye as she had just watched "The Corporation" and it had the mass appeal pretty label we talked about with Barefoot Cellars as well as being Evil Corporation wine. What a combo! The back of the bottle boasts, "Virgin Vines believes wine should be all about having fun and loving the taste...not waxing poetically about meaningless wine-speak and food pairings. Simply drink this big bold red with something or someone you find delicious." Well, It sort of fits with our unsophisticated approach, however I don't agree with the food pairing part. I sense this is more of an evil corporation marketing strategy targeting 18-21 year olds rather than unpretentious wine loving. But I thought I would try to keep an open mind, check out their website, see what they had to say about their wine making. First of all, you had to enter your birthdate before entering the site, supposedly because you had to be 18 or older to get in, but more presumably to find out if they are in line with their target age group. I didn't learn anything about how they make their wine, or where, or really anything about the wine, just some catch phrases and offers to join their VIP group?! So it seems, perhaps, it IS just evil corporation wine, but not to bad evil corporation wine. The perfect wine to watch evil reality TV, Survivor. But just as I would rather go to my local coffee shop than to Starbucks, I would rather support a small but genuine vineyard.
~christle
Summerhill 2001 Pinot Noir, almost pretty good
When I saw the Summerhill Pinot Noir I really wanted to try it because it reminded me of one of my favorites, 2002 Summerhill Baco Noir. One thing I forgot when tasting this wine, for me at least, is that a Pinot Noir needs to be accessorized. In this case, with some lovely aged cheddar and Gouda. I find Pinot Noirs in general better with food, which I forgot with my first glass. I found my first glass to be fruity and light but a little to sharp, actually alot to sharp. However, once I added a big chunk of aged cheddar to balance the wine's loud twang, I ended up with a nice symphony of flavor.
~Christle~
