Zinfandel Tasting

Saturday, February 15th
4:30 - 7:00

Although we've had a fairly mild winter with no snow so far, even slightly chilly temperatures send many of us in search of big, bold, spicy red wines.  This Saturday is forecast to be the coldest day of this week, so I figured it is as good a time as any to take a look at one of our favorite grapes for winery weather - Zinfandel!  Zinfandel is the most American of all the noble grape varieties.  Forget about that sweet pink stuff known as White Zinfandel, this tasting will focus on the deep, spicy red wine that is true ZINFANDEL, unique to the warm growing regions of California.  When I was very first getting into wine back in the mid 1990s, one of the first bottles that really made me pay attention was and early Cline Zinfandel.  It knocked my socks off, and was one of the first wines that I remember really enjoying suggesting to customers in the restaurant where I worked, and hoping they enjoyed it as much as I did.  Tracing its genetic history back to the Italian grape Primitivo, Zinfandel flourished in the vineyards of California where it was planted by Italian immigrants.  Its durability has led to some of the United States oldest vineyards being dominated by Zinfandel, and is our most common wine to be seen labeled 'Old Vines'.  As with Primitivo, there are several other international grapes genetically related to Zin, but the only production I've ever seen of this delicious grape is out of American vineyards.  In a way, this mild winter is perfect for Zinfandel, as the cooler nights are not so cold that you can still cook out on the patio, and Zin can pair up with just about anything off the grill.  While all the same grape, we feel that we've found five selections that will highlight the differences as well as similarities of each bottle.  We'll sample Zins from several different regions, showing differences in terroir.  Amongst these will be a Zin from Three Wine Company, a winery overseen by Matt Cline, one of the brothers who made that first bottle that caught my attention way back when.  You're also not going to want to miss the chance to taste a great wine from Turley Cellars, a renowned producer of Zinfandel who until not that long ago was only available through direct mailing lists, but we are now fortunate enough to get supply into North Carolina where we can even include it in a tasting!  We hope you can join us for this exploration of this delicious grape.

Lapis Luna Zinfandel
North Coast, California, 2018

Three Wine Co. Zinfandel
Contra Costa County, California, 2018

Valravn Zinfandel
Sonoma County, California, 2017

Trig Point 'The Railyard' Zinfandel
Alexander Valley, California, 2017

Turley 'Old Vines' Zinfandel
California, 2017