About the Wine: A lot of wine aficionados look down their noses at Zinfandel. This bold, often sweet wine seems out of place among the more refined wines like the great reds of Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Tuscany. But Zinfandel can be a great wine for anyone looking for something fruit forward and easy drinking. I was drawn to this bottle by the cute piggy, and after that by the fact that it comes from Dry Creek Valley, one of the best places in California for growing Zinfandel.
About THIS Wine: It is an opaque red in the glass with a nearly clear rim. The nose presents red and dark fruit and interesting notes of charred wood. The palate is moderately acidic with a lot of creamy red fruit and significantly more tannin structure than I normally associate with Zinfandel.
Drinking This Wine: It does well by itself. Some kind of hearty, spicy sausage would make a good companion. This one might benefit from some decanting or some aging. The acidity and tannin are more than I have come to expect from this kind of wine and I think it could hold up to and improve with a few years of cellaring.
Overall Impression: I have tasted much more expensive bottles that had nothing on this in taste, complexity, or accessibility. At twenty dollars a bottle this one is a good value.
