Four Vines Zin: A Wednesday Night Wine

At the suggestion of my sis, I went out seeking Four Vines Zin the other night. She had specified that I should get one of the limited releases -- "Biker" or "Sophisticate" -- and given that it's getting colder, I figured it was good weather for a hearty red Zinfandel. Unfortunately, the limited releases get gobbled up quickly and I missed the window, so I was only able to get their base tier wine. I think it pales in comparison to the others but it's still worth a review.

Now before I get into the nuts and bolts of the wine, I want to briefly address the difference between Zinfandel (red) and White Zinfandel (pink) because sometimes when I tell people that I love Zin, they think I'm talking about the sugary pink stuff. Completely understandable, but not so accurate.

Zinfandel is the cousin of a red Croatian grape called Crljenak (I have no clue how to say that, if anyone does, please send me the phonetic spelling). It's hearty, it can be jammy or spicy, and it's pretty complex. Zinfandel, as we know it, is only grown in California, but Italian Primativo is a close clone, so sometimes you'll see Italian Zin (although often it's insipid grapey nastiness).

White Zinfandel is from the same grape, but it's made to be pink and sweet. It's a complete act of flavor manipulation by the winemaker, so it tastes nothing like red Zin. It was literally created by mistake by Sutter Home in 1975. You can read about it on Wikipedia but, in short, the fermentation of a Zinfandel rosé wine got messed up and the wine did not ferment completely. That means grape sugar was left in the batch. Even though it was flawed and nothing like what a dry rosé should be, the winemaker dug it and Sutter Home has made a freaking killing off of it. To me, it's like drinking fruit punch and if I'm going to have that, I may as well have a mixed drink and get a better buzz! I do, however, regularly enjoy RED Zinfandel, and I think you should too!

Ok, now that we are clear on that, back to Four Vines Zinfandel
The Wine: Four Vines, Old Vine Cuvee
Where It's From: California
The Grape: Zinfandel
Vintage: 2006
Price: $10.99

Color: A typical Zin in color, this was a dark garnet with a little browning around the edges (showing it's grey hair) and a watery rim. The wine was VERY viscous (the legs take a long time to drip down the glass), which was a dead giveaway that it was 14%+ in alcohol.

Smell: What a great nose! This wine smelled like a blueberry or raspberry patch outside in a field somewhere. On second sniff, it was very jammy, not just wild and briary. There were also a ton of leather, peppermint, and horse/stable aromas (mmm, sweaty horse). It smelled like the inside of a 3 Muskateers bar too -- I guess that's called "nougat." Oh, and this was a hot little number -- the alcohol was flaming in the glass.

Taste: I expected some great things from this wine, but it was not as complex to drink as it was to sniff. The wine vaguely tasted like a blueberry crisp, with lots of cinnamon and a baked thing going on, but that's it. It was so hot and so alcoholic that it masked a lot of the flavor. I guess they should have picked the grapes earlier because this was overripe and over-alcoholic. It was ok with pizza (which was spicy and had a bunch of vegetables on it) but not on its own.

Drink or Down the Sink?: Drink. Pair it with pizza (Trader Joe's whole wheat dough is great and healthy and you can make your own toppings!) or something with tomato acid, and it's a good wine that you can have on a weeknight. I don't think I'd bring it over a friend's house, but on a Wednesday for $11 it's a good deal. And if that doesn't sell you, it's got a screw cap -- so it's low effort after a tiring day.