WineLife365

Posts Tagged ‘Zinfandel’

From: California

Price: $13.95

Zinfandel is considered the “Great American Wine”.  However, the Zinfandel grape did not originate in the United States.  Grape DNA testing traced this grape’s origin back to Croatia and also revealed that it’s the same as the Italian Zinfandel known as “Primitivo”.

American red wine drinkers have embraced this grape for its whopping power and intensity.  I personally love the big and bad boldness of a great American Zin.  Unfortunately in 2009, none that I’ve tasted under $15.00 have been all that big and bad.  They’ve all been pretty mediocre and tasted like a bad lab experiment.

Fortunately, the 2006 Four Vines Zin was not a dud.  This Zin tasted rich and more expensive than what I actually paid for it.  It had a terrific berry and spice taste with a very good long finish.  This wine is as good as a $20 bottle of Zin.  I’m not quite ready to say that this Zin is the best under $15, but I’m sure that this one is better than most.  This is a very good Red Zinfandel to try.

I give it 3 Stars. It’s still too early in 2009 to proclaim this wine the best red Zin under $15 bucks. 

WineLife365 Rating: 3-Star

From: Italy
Price: $10.99

What is up with the back label on this wine?  Is this wine a Zinfandel, or is it a Primitivo?  After doing some digging I found out Primitivo is the legal term that Italian winemakers wanted to use in order to break into the expanding red Zin market in the United States.

In 2001, “grape scientist” Dr. Carole Meredith of the University of California at Davis, used DNA technology to confirm that Zinfandel and Primitivo are in fact the same grape, although different clones.

The 2006 A-Mano Primitivo is a very tasty red Zin.  It has good red fruit and black pepper flavors. This red wine is consistently good year after year…but It’s no match against some of the California boys.

 WineLife365 Rating: 3-Star

From: California

Price: $8.99

We had our usual Friday night spaghetti with a familiar red wine.  One particular red wine that my wife and I both enjoy year in and year out is Rancho Zabaco’s Dancing Bull Zinfandel from California.  The consistency of this wine has been very good year after year.  This was our first time trying the 2006 vintage of this particular wine.

So we opened it up, and sure enough just as in past years, this wine did not disappoint us.  The 2006 Dancing Bull Zinfandel has a very nice black cherry, raspberry, and black pepper flavor.  This Zin was really good with our spaghetti and red sauce, but we also thought that it would go well with just about any Italian or BBQ food.  Another thing that I love about this wine is it’s price.  I actually paid $8.99 for it at our local wine store.  At under 10 bucks, this Zin is tough to beat for its consistent quality.

The Dancing Bull Zinfandel once again did not disappoint, and you definitely can’t beat the ’less than $10 a bottle’ price tag.  Give this wine a try.

WineLife365 Rating: 3-Star

From: California

Price: $7.99

My wife and I gave this wine a try while watching the Oscars Award Show.  Based on her reaction, my wife may be up for an Oscar next year in the category of “Worst facial expression made while drinking a glass of wine”.  This wine was just very odd.  My wife said that it reminded her of a bizarre combination of green peppers, smoked summer sausage and spices.

I have to agree with her. It did taste a lot like a 2 year old Hickory Farms Family Pack.  This wine was just weird to us.  But, if you like a little beef and peppers in your wine, then you might like this.

WineLife365 Rating: 1-Star