Finally, a Zin I don't hate
The last time I bought a Zinfandel, it was a Ravenswood and I hated it. The moment I choked down the final glass, I swore to myself that I'd never bother with Zin again. There was just something foul about it — it was too in-your-face, too unapologetically nasty for me to enjoy.
I guess it could have been that particular bottle that had gotten a little too ripe, but I assumed I just wasn't synching with Zinfandel.
Well, there's hope.
On a whim, while distracted from my original mission to buy some Beaujolais Noveau, I decided I'd give Zin another try. I was feeling charitible, I guess, and kind of boxed in since I really tend to stick to my Cab/Pinot Noir routine quite rigidly. So I brought home some Bogle Old Vine 2004 Zin.
And I don't hate it!
Too bad I wasn't wineblogging back when I had that Ravenswood crap, so I could remember what put me off about it.
The Bogle is complex and spicy, with deep notes of masculine stuff like tobacco and oak and chocolate, and just a hint of the more jammy flavors — blackberries and black cherries. It seems to me to be a very utilitarian wine, something you'd seek out to pair with a specific dish instead of something you'd just open up and swill at your leisure.
Even its scent is a mite serious.
This wine would never break its curfew or go out without at least $20 in cash.
I guess it could have been that particular bottle that had gotten a little too ripe, but I assumed I just wasn't synching with Zinfandel.
Well, there's hope. On a whim, while distracted from my original mission to buy some Beaujolais Noveau, I decided I'd give Zin another try. I was feeling charitible, I guess, and kind of boxed in since I really tend to stick to my Cab/Pinot Noir routine quite rigidly. So I brought home some Bogle Old Vine 2004 Zin.
And I don't hate it!
Too bad I wasn't wineblogging back when I had that Ravenswood crap, so I could remember what put me off about it.
The Bogle is complex and spicy, with deep notes of masculine stuff like tobacco and oak and chocolate, and just a hint of the more jammy flavors — blackberries and black cherries. It seems to me to be a very utilitarian wine, something you'd seek out to pair with a specific dish instead of something you'd just open up and swill at your leisure.
Even its scent is a mite serious.
This wine would never break its curfew or go out without at least $20 in cash.
posted by theogeo at 1:22 AM
5 Comments:
You? Wine wonk. Me? Wino. There's a difference. And that difference is that if somebody serves me Sutter Home White Zinfandel, I'll drink it. And if somebody serves me Merlot, I'll drink it. I've only had one wine in my entire life that I detested.
I am glad that you cleared the Zin hurdle.
I'm being far too generous to myself, as usual. I'm fluctuating somewhere between wino and aspiring wine wonk. I doubt I'll ever rise much higher than that. See, I'd feel out of place at a wine tasting because it seems wasteful and silly to me to go around spitting out perfectly good wine.
What was the one wine you detested? Seems like you've told me, but I need to be reminded.
And let's just say I'm straddling the Zin hurdle. I still don't think it's a wine I'll integrate into my routine very often. Between you and me, Sutter Home White Zin is yummy and cheap and I'll drink a lot of it if it's there.
Yes, I too love the SH white zin. Could be because that wine popped my vino cherry. No, actually it's probably just because it's simply good.
There's no way I'd spit out wine at a wine-tasting party. That's why we (me and my Buffalo pals) had wine and cheese parties, where everyone brought one or two different kinds of wine, and we drank til the bottles were empty.
What say you to trying to do that here in Tennessee once a month or once every other month? I love wine and cheese parties so much. And, unlike the zero documentation that went on at these shindigs in Buffalo, you and I could blog, blog, blog about it. The good wine, the bad wine, the good cheese, the other good cheese, the happenings, etc. You could invite your wine-loving friends, I could invite mine (the ones close enough to attend, that is, in both cases) and we could have a vonderful time.
Let me know about that. I know at least three people that would be totally down with that.
That would be so much fun!
!!!
Zins are one of my favorite varietals. i just love a big, juicy, brambly, meaty Zin.
Try Gnarly Head Zinfandel....I am pretty sure you will like it. It is a great cold weather wine & it should only run ya around 10 bucks.
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