+- WineBoard (https://www.wines.com/wineboard)
+-- Forum: GENERAL (https://www.wines.com/wineboard/forum-100.html)
+--- Forum: For the Novice (https://www.wines.com/wineboard/forum-2.html)
+--- Thread: Zinfandel (/thread-17030.html)
- cheeps - 09-23-2004
Hi everyone - Since I first posted here earlier in the year, I've been going to tastings and buying and trying different wines. I'm beginning to be able to discern different tastes, what grapes I like and don't like, etc. I'm posting this here, rather than on the specific Zinfandel forum as I just have general questions.
Compared to when I first started when I drank mostly white wines, I'm finding that I've switched over and prefer reds more now. I've only tried 2-3 different Zinfandels, but I've liked them all. My favorite sofar is one called Tarius, Aldine Vineyard – Mendocino. The others I had by the glass in restaurants and neglected to ask the specific names. Can anyone educate me a bit more about Zinfandels, how long it can age, what foods it goes best with, and maybe give me your favorites or some suggestions as to which names to keep an eye out for? Thanks so much!
Lisa
- PinotEnvy - 09-23-2004
Cheeps,
A very popular Zin is the Rancho Zabadico Dancing Bull. My palet is not educated enough to talk much about it, but it would not surprise me if it has been commented on in the past. I can say that I enjoyed it anyway.
PE
- Thomas - 09-23-2004
cheeps,
Zinfandel is produced in many ways. What I suggest you do is pick a price point comfortable with your purse, and then try a different Zinfandel with each purchase. Keep notes.
Every once in a while, when you are flush with cash, splurge on a higher-priced one. Keep notes with that too.
After a few weeks of note keeping you will find a taste preference emerging on paper, and you will have discovered the type of Zinfandel and the producers that you might want to stay with for a while.
But after a while, you'll need to do it all over again as your taste preferences shift and change--which, is the fun of wine tasting to begin with...
[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 09-23-2004).]
- wondersofwine - 09-23-2004
I like the Rancho Zabaco Sonoma Heritage or Dry Creek Valley Zinfandels (both a few dollars above the cost of the Dancing Bull). I also like Seghesio Old Vines Zinfandel (Sonoma) and have ordered a couple bottles of Steele Mendocino Ridge Zinfandel (might be hard to find unlike the Rancho Zabaco or Seghesio). At around $30 per bottle I like the Ridge Lytton Springs or Paso Robles zinfandels. These range from a lighter style (Steele) to serious, complex wines (Ridge). Zinfandel is generally considered to match well with barbequed meats and some like it with burgers or pizza.
- Zinner - 09-24-2004
Well they used to say that there are three R's in Zinfandel...Ridge, Ravenswood and Rosenblum. It's hard to go wrong with top producers such as these. And a favorite for me would be Hendry, a small Napa winery, that, among other things, makes a luscious Zin called Block 7.
But the good thing about Zinfandel is that there is such a variety--even if you taste a lot, there are more to discover. Recently visiting the Dry Creek Valley, I found a winery called Bella that is making outstanding Zin.
I think foodwise, Zin goes really well with roasted meats and the autumn vegetables that you might be eating at this time of year. And grilled meats and veggies are great with it too.
The lighter Zins such as the Rancho Zabaco Dancing Bull are slurp-it-up-now stuff. But I recently had a '90 Ridge Lytton Springs that was fabulous, so some of them do age.
If you really go crazy over Zin after you've continued to taste for a while, there's a huge Zin event in San Francisco ever year called ZAP...Zinfandel Advocates and Producers(they have a website). I believe it's in the latter part of January and it's where the devotees go to pay homage to one of their favorite grapes.
- cheeps - 09-24-2004
Thank you all for your helpful replies.
I'm in Boston so I'm lucky to have quite a selection to choose from. Except for smaller wineries that only sell their wines locally, I would think if I wanted to, I could get pretty much anything with all the wine shops there are around here to pick from.
So should I assume (altho I know it's not good to do that!) that the higher priced Zins are always more robust and can age where more inexpensive ones are lighter and more often are "ready to drink" when you buy them? I know that's greatly simplified, but in general?
I am still far, far from knowling all there is to know about wine, but I feel that I've now narrowed down what I like and don't like, altho there are always new things to discover. The one thing I'm still clueless about tho is the aging part - what can keep, what can't and how you tell the difference. For example I keep hearing and reading about how some wines that can age, can also be drunk young, but they just develop more depth and complexity as they age. But then if you drink some young and leave others to age, that during the aging process they go thru periods where they might not be all that great, then a year or so later, they're at their best again. Is is just a matter of taking the chance and opening a bottle to find out what stage a wine is at or is there some rule of thumb about wines in general, i.e., Cabs last x number of years, while Zins only last this many years? I know I'm asking for simple answers to complex questions, but I don't even know where to start on this one. I'm the only one in the house that drinks wine unless I have company, so I don't keep alot on hand - maybe 20-25 bottles and I don't plan on buying large quantities of wine and aging it. Not now anyway. But when I do come across a wine I really like, I would like to stock up on as many bottles as I can afford to, but I'm always nervous about all this aging stuff. I don't exactly have money to burn and I would hate to open a $25 bottle of wine and have it taste lousy just because I opened it at exactly the wrong time!
Then again, my palette isn't that sophisticated yet so would someone on my level even notice the difference?
Sorry to ramble on so! Thanks so much for helping me out. I really appreciate it and am constantly amazed at how much you all know about wine!
Lisa
- wondersofwine - 09-24-2004
WW is one of our Cabernet Sauvignon experts and he usually gives the California cabs ten years at least after vintage before consuming. He is drinking the '94 vintage now. (An off vintage such as 1998 might be consumed sooner.) It also depends on the style of the wine. Producers who use new oak barrels for storing the wine prior to bottling produce wines with more tannin that may take longer to integrate all elements of the wine. Wine stored in older barrels may have less tannin and be ready to drink earlier. Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve may indicate a wine that would develop and improve with some aging (although I don't think the US laws really regulate what is labeled "reserve." It's more up to the producer to decide if it's a regular or reserve wine.)
Some prefer Zinfandels within four years of vintage but others like the better zins with some age. I think since you don't intend to have a large cellar, you might as well consume them young for now. If you like Cab ernet Sauvignon or go into classified Bordeaux or such, you might considered setting aside a few bottles for aging. They should be kept in a dark, cool place where they aren't exposed to lots of light, great variation of temperature or vibration. Keeping them at 55 degrees is an ideal, but mine are not in a wine cellar or storage unit and are exposed to temperatures from 62 to 70 degrees. Prolonged exposure to temperatures over 70 may harm the wines or age them prematurely.
- Kcwhippet - 09-24-2004
Cheeps,
Boston is really a major market for wines, and often many wines not available elsewhere are readily found, or obtainable, in the Boston area. If you hear of a wine you want, but don't see, in your local shop, chances are they can get it fairly easily, particularly if the shop has a big turn over in the better and hard to find wines. Some of the best shops in the Boston area are Brookline Liquor Mart in Allston, Martignetti's in Brighton, Marty's in Newton, Gordons in Waltham and Warehouse Wines in Framingham (the shop I work at). If a wine is, or can be, brought into MA, then any one of them can get it for you even if they don't have it stocked on the shelves. Another thing to do is to sign up for the newsletters in all the shops you go into. They'll tell you all the new wines coming in, the monthly sales specials and what they're tasting, as well as other news. All those shops have weekly in-store tastings, usually on Saturdays, and that's a great way to try new wines free. Years ago we used to go to several shops on Saturdays and taste what they were offering to find new wines and new vintages of our favorites.
- cheeps - 09-24-2004
I keep my wine in my cellar - not a "wine" cellar, but literally, my cellar. I put a thermometer down there and the temp stays around 57 degrees and there is a bit of humidity in the air.
One of the few wines I haven't delved into yet are Bordeaux's. I'm just too intimidated by them! I am on Federal Wine & Spirits' newsletter list so I'm getting all kinds of notices of various Bordeaux futures I can buy now, but you have to purchase by a half case or case and at approx. $300-$600 per order, it's just way out of my league to spend like that - especially where I know nothing about Bordeaux!
As I mentioned, I don't have a large amount of wine stored and I'm probably turning over what I have pretty regularly, so it's not that big an issue for me, but I would like to learn more and get more confidence about aging and storing wine so that when I go to the store I can make better decisions about picking vintages.
I'm going over to the North End today at lunch to visit the great markets they have there and I think I'll stop and see what they have for Zinfandels - they have a chain store over there that has a better than average wine selection. I'll look for some of the names that have been suggested here. Thanks so much!
Lisa
- Innkeeper - 09-24-2004
Hi Lisa; getting back to Zinfandel. We posted a TN on the '02 Bogle, Old Vines, California Zin on the Zinfandel thread last night. Even as an '02 it is ready to rock and roll. As mentioned in the TN, it is hard to find a better Zin for less than $13.
- cheeps - 09-24-2004
Thanks Innkeeper - I popped over and checked out your notes. I'm going to see if I can find this one in my travels. Thanks for the tip!
Lisa
- stevebody - 09-28-2004
As a confirmed Zin freak, I've found as many or more different flavor profiles in Zin as any other grape in the pantheon. I've come to only a few reliable generalizations but the main one is that Zins, once open, are incredibly fast breathers. The wine you taste on opening is not the wine you're drinking in 45 minutes. I've had very few that didn't do that. As for aging, I think it's roughly the same as with most grapes: the more stuffing at bottling, the more age on the shelf and the more benefit from it. I had a 1970 Schwann Zin that I bought at Champion Wine Cellars here in Seattle that was brilliant, deep, rich and graceful. I've also had a Kenwood that was two years old and gone. Read the reviews and go to tastings wherever you can find them. As far as low-cost, complex, rich Zins, I heartily second the Seghesio stuff (that's the Italian style, with less black pepper notes and more roundness), the Bogle Old Vines, and the Zabacos. I'd add the Ballantine Napa (a steal at $15); an obscure little gem called Campus Oaks; made by the Gnekow Family Winery; the Viano wines, the reserves of which go for under $10; and the Cline California, which is lovely in some vintages and merely okay in others. Finally, I'd suggest you try the genetically-identical Italians, the Primitivos. The A-Mano Primitivo is a lush, polished, characterful wine that sells for well under $10 and is made in a little more of an American style than most, since the winemaker is a guy from here who used to work at Hedges Cellars. In a California bottle, this stuff would be $20, easy. You might find you like the Primitivos, which gives you a lot of low-cost, cellarable alternatives.
- cheeps - 09-29-2004
Thanks so much for the tips Stevebody! I have written down all your suggestions and will check them out. We are in the midst of the remnants of Hurricane Jean today, so I don't think I'll be venturing out today at lunch, but I recognize a few of the names some of you have mentioned, so I know a lot of these wines will be available in my area. Now to start drinking and comparing lol!! Thanks again.
Lisa