7 Deadly Zins (2007, Lodi, California)

[4 stars, out of 5]

We tasted this as part of a flight for my sister-in-law's 30th birthday. She's a little new to wine tasting and wasn't a fan, but I thought it was a great buy at $14.99 and an easy drink. Color was deep garnet, with a nose of clove and spices. It had medium-full body and was round and flavorful in my mouth. I thought it tasted like smoke, BBQ, and dark berries; another taster said it tasted like sex. Good with smoked food and BBQ meats. I am a big Zin fan and will probably pick this up again soon.

XYin 2005 XYZin 10 Year Vines

4.5 stars (out of 5)

We discovered XYZin, a subsidiary of Geyser Peak Winery, on our last trip to California. This has quickly become one of my favorite zins – and I’m a zin gal, so that’s not something to be taken lightly. After nearly 18 months in the cellar, I actually opened this one (purists, cover your eyes) for cooking. I am pleased to report that it was the best beef burgundy stew I’ve ever made.

Luckily, there was some left over for drinking too. Here’s what we found:
• Color: Deep dark burgundy in color, nearly black
• Nose: Raspberry, chocolate, and earth
• Flavors: Blackberry, dark cherries, raisins
• A little hot on the finish with well-balanced tannins.

Ravenswood Zen of Zin Old Vine Zinfandel (Sonoma County, California, 2004)

2.5 stars (out of 5)

We had a hard time with this wine, and actually had to come back to it the next day because we couldn’t find the right words to describe it the first time around. This wine was black raspberry in color with a pink rim, and had has a nose of homemade strawberry rhubarb jam. Subtle flavors included cranberry, fresh earth, and autumn with a smoky vanilla finish. The wine was palatable, but not very complex. I wouldn’t recommend it for wine newbies because the flavors were hard to distinguish. Overall, it would probably pair easily with food but I wouldn’t add it to my list of top zins.

Cline Zinfandel (Sonoma, California, 2007)

3 stars (out of 5)

The best of the bunch, I selected the Cline because I like zinfandel and it had recently been featured on a podcast to which I subscribe. This wine tasted earthy, like freshly turned fields, and had a lingering finish described by different tasters as lingonberry, dark cherry, or currant. Clearly a young wine, it was not very robust and would probably benefit from aging a year or two in the cellar. Overall, I would rate it a fair value at $13.99 but am not sure I would reach for it again so soon.