2008 Ravenswood Zinfandel

Tonight I've decided to open up a big bottle of wine, yes indeed a MAGNUM!  Oh that sounds intimidating doesn't it?  Well it's really not, or at least it shouldn't be, as large format bottles have been around a long time and they are pretty fun, after all no one in a large group feels bad about having a glass of wine when they know there are at least 8 glasses in the big bottle!  So tonight I've opened a magnum of the 2008 Ravenswood Zinfandel, this one being the "Vintner's Blend" which is their basic wine.  Even so, I've been a fan of Ravenswood since 2000, so I am usually quite confident that their blends won't leave me gagging!

Now you all know how I love Zinfandel, and I acquired those feelings from some of my earliest experiences with Ravenswood Zins, before that I just thought all Zinfandels were pink wines (call me a child of the 1980s!).  This particular wine has a nice deep ruby color in the glass, and the nose exhibits aromas of leather, blackberry, plum and black cherry, and just the faintest hint of baking spice.  The taste is very fruit forward, a very "jammy" sort of Zin, with flavors of ripe plum, cherries, and blackberries, giving way to some fresh herbs, cedar and spice notes midpalate.  The tannins are quite well developed, leading to a nice, tight dry finish.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 8, because it's good, but also because it was a tremendous bargain at only $10 for a magnum from wineshopper.com (for those of you doing the math, that's like $5 for a regular bottle!).  Tonight I am enjoying it with a completely random and poorly thought out dinner (come on it's the holiday season, who hasn't had a random dinner?) consisting of tortilla crusted tilapia, a baked potato and the holiday classic green bean casserole!  Who knows how well this wine could possibly play with all those flavors, but by the time it's over I probably won't care one way or the other!  Cheers!