To Live, Perchance To Zin

Kevin and I accomplished a lot yesterday. After I’d furnished him my files for the site’s about us, FAQ, and resources pages, Kevin had diligently pursued formatting them to style and uploading them to his webserver. We’ve got a little ways to go with the resources pages, the look and feel of this blog, and some other minor cleanup, but overall I’m pretty satisfied with our progress this week.

So, last night I felt like celebrating and poured myself a glass of 2002 “Rezerve” Zinfandel from Sobon Estate in the Shenandoah Valley, one of California’s Sierra Foothills appellations. This was a wine I had purchased at the winery, having taken a sojourn to the Fiddletown, Shenandoah, and Fairplay subappellations of Amador County in early October.

I had opened the Sobon 3 nights earlier, and it had been quite fine then, but last night it was oh-so-much-more tasty, with the tannins having softened but the berry and cherry notes still lively. You know, this wine is 15.9% alcohol! That’s a pretty dang high heat factor, to be sure. But you can always tell exemplary winemaking when you taste the fruit and texture but don’t feel all that alcohol on your palate. Could be why this particular Rezerve Zin took a Gold Medal at the Amador County Fair Wine Competition. Yum! Wish I had more of it.

But tonight, still in a Zin mood, I dug into my Picchetti stash and poured myself another 2002 vintage from Picchetti’s Bellicitti Vineyard in Saratoga, an upscale district tucked into the southwestern corner of Santa Clara Valley. This Zinfandel is a little softer than the Sobon powerhouse, but slightly spicier, with a hint of plum that I didn’t perceive in the Sobon. I don’t feel heat from this wine, either, but then it’s (only) 14.5% alcohol.

As I write this post, I’ve been out of the room on occasion, but I’ve noticed that the finish from this Picchetti Zin has lingered on my palate. Gosh, I love everything that’s come from that Bellicitti vineyard, I really do. I believe this wine’ll go well with that tangy meatloaf I made the other day.

Speakin’ o’ which, it’s about time I ate, too.

Heck, I would pour either of these delectable Zins for good friends.

~winehiker

This entry was posted on Friday, December 9th, 2005 at 7:13 pm and is filed under grape squeezins. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.