The Backlog Continued (Zins of February)
I would like to apologize for the delay in my second post about my backlog of wine tasting. We have had some family things going on, but we are approaching a point where I am now able to return to the office and really get the ball rolling on filming and editing episode one of Somm and Mooch. Until then I shall continue to share my tasting journey with you.
Pure Bred Wines Zin, Lodi CA 2017.
This wine retails for roughly $7 plus tax at Trader Joe’s, Inflation might have changed the price.
I tasted this wine on the 11th of February 2021. Which should have been the same day as the wine I discussed in my previous post.
Look: The wine was a medium purple. A rather strange thing given that Zin is typically a very dark/ deep purple, I attributed the lightness of the color to a faster maceration, fermentation, and pressing. A bit of age could have also contributed to the slight decline in color intensity. Arguably, though, the wine was too young for age to account for the change.
Smell: Crushed red fruit- cranberry/ red apple. Oak on the nose, light clove. Probably French oak. There was not a great range of smells present in the wine, it was rather subdued, and the oak wasn’t particularly prominent either.
Taste: This wine had a medium plus body, medium plus tannin, medium acidity, and medium plus alcohol sitting between 13.5 and 15 percent. The wine was dry. It is interesting to note that the wine wasn’t this large powerhouse of alcohol that is so common with zinfandel from Lodi.
On the palate the there was a presence of red stone fruit and faint pepper and cooking spices. I again attribute the pepper and spice to oak aging, and the intensity of flavor is consistent with that of French oak.
I marked this wine at a 3 out of 5. With the remarks, “The wine is light and peppery with a pleasant taste from start to finish.
If I went back to it now, which I plan to do on the show, I think I would mark the wine better. It is a balanced wine that show cases much more of the fruit instead of hiding behind heavy oaking and high alcohol.
Epicuro Primitivo Puglia Italy 2018.
This wine retails for roughly $6 dollars at Trader Joe’s
I tasted this wine on the 17th of February 2021.
Look: The wine was a deep ruby in color. I attribute these aspects to the region and fermentation process of the wine.
Smell: Clove and cardamom, grass, dandelion, and wood smoke.
Taste: Medium body, medium plus tannin, medium acidity, medium plus alcohol sitting between 13.5 and 15 percent, dry.
On the palate there was cranberry, and spice. The flavors shifted then to a jammy and tannic finish.
I rated this wine 3 out of 5 with a smiley face and no additional remarks.
Carol Shelton Wild Thing Zin. Mendocino California, 2017.
I tasted with wine on the 18th of February 2021.
Retails for roughly $18 at Total Wine and More.
Look: Medium Purple
Smell: Wet leather, earthy, fermented cranberry skins.
Taste: Medium body, medium minus tannin, medium plus acidity, medium plus alcohol, dry. This wine was jammy, berry heavy, with extreme cranberry flavors and tartness.
Ultimately the wine was out of balance and was not all together pleasant to drink. I marked the wine a 2 out of 5. With a queasy emoticon hand doodled in the corner of the page.
All these wines are Zin or Zin adjacent. I tasted them in close temporal proximity to each other to see how the process varied across the board. It was about the time that I put my own zin to bottle, I am a home brewer and I wanted to know what to expect out of my wine. In my experience with these the Pure Bred was probably my favorite of them and I do look forward to revisiting these wines in the web series, but until then I hope that these notes and thoughts have shed some light on what the beginning of a tasting journey is like.