1997 Easton Zinfandel

[Innkeeper]

1997 Easton, Shenandoah California Valley, Zinfandel ($20.00). This is a big, but not huge zin. It is reminiscent of the Sierra Foothills Zins of yore. Went perfectly with my strogy tonight. Explodes in your nose and mouth with all kinds of ripe fruit colored black; raspberries, blackberries, cherries, et al. Then you get a full bodied (14.5% alcohol) mouthful of spicy, peppery, acidic (6.6 gr/ltr) zin across your palate. Then, hold on to your pants, for one the most lingering finishes we've enjoyed in a long, long time. In other words, a great zin. It is ready to drink now, but has enough acid and tannin to improve over the next three or four years. Beware, wines of this sort, including a lot of old world stuff, will suffer under a negative parabolic curve for a year or two between the time the fruit fades and when it gets better.

This is a zin to enjoy now or in three or four years. It went so well with our Beef Stroganoff tonight, that we wish we had more to go with the half leftover. Don't worry, we'll find something.