2011 Ravenswood Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel

Tonight I've decided to have an old fashioned cookout, and what's better with a cookout than a fabulous Zinfandel?  And of course we know the best Zins come from Lodi, and specifically from old vines and that's what I've opened tonight, the 2011 Ravenswood Old Vine Zinfandel from Lodi!

The wine is a deep ruby color in the glass with very nice clarity.  The nose is classic Lodi Zin, rich ripe black fruit, blackberries, black cherry, blueberries and plum over a smoky layer of leather and cedar intertwined with some green grass and herbs.  The taste is just a pleasure from the first sip, with rich jammy fruit bursting forward that transitions effortlessly to some black pepper and Asian spice notes midpalate.  The finish is warm, smooth and very dry with well structured tannins that give this wine a backbone that's ideal for summer barbecue fare.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's a great example of a classic Lodi Zinfandel, and at a spectacular price of only $12 at my local wine merchant, G.B. Russo's.  Tonight I'm enjoying this wine with a classic midwest cookout of grilled brats on pretzel buns accented with spicy brown mustard, horseradish, sweet pickled red cabbage, and some egg and mustard potato salad on the side.  Summer is such a great time for food!

2008 Ravenswood Vintners Blend Zinfandel

Well, we've been enjoying a wonderful winter storm to start the new year, with all the trimmings, foot and a half of snow, and highs in the single digits!  So it's only natural to want to curl up by the fire and enjoy a glass of wine!  Tonight I am working in finishing a magnum of 2008 Ravenswood Vintners Blend Zinfandel, a nice everyday, easy drinking wine.

The wine is a nice ruby color in the glass with great clarity. The nose is classic Zinfandel, with rich sweet fruit notes of blackberry, cassis and prune accented by just a hint of fresh cut grass. The taste is a lovely combination of black fruit, green tea and black licorice transitioning to come lovely mineral notes mid palate. The tannins are very well structured supporting a long, smooth and very dry finish. 

 Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 7.5 as it's nothing spectacular, but a solid everyday wine and a terrific value, I think I bought this magnum from WTSO for only $10!  Tonight I'm enjoying this wine with a simple dinner of butternut squash ravioli topped with some Parma rosa sauce and a nice arugula salad with Tuscan olive oil and 25-year white balsamic, yum!

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!

2007 Ravenswood Dickerson Napa Valley Zinfandel

Well, kids are back in school and football is on TV all afternoon on Sundays, so that can mean only one thing, summer is on its way out and fall is coming into its own.  So as a celebration of the last gasp of summer, today I decide to have a little barbecue, and what could possibly go better with barbecue than a lovely zinfandel?

So with my lovely meal, I've cracked open a bottle of 2007 Ravenswood Dickerson Napa Valley Zinfandel, since the rich fruit flavor and smokiness of a good zin really pairs well with barbecue of all kinds!  Now this wine is part of a series of wonderful single-vineyard zinfandels that Ravenswood produces, including the Pickberry, Teldeschi and Barricia zinfandels.  And of course you know I'm a big fan of just about anything Ravenswood does!

This wine has a lovely ruby color in the glass, lighter around the edges and deeper toward the center.  The nose is a lovely combination of leather, limestone, oak and just a hint of ripe berries.  The taste is very fruit forward and characteristically jammy, but not is a super sweet grape jam sort of way.  It has lovely fruit that doesn't make you think you just drank kool-aid, instead this wine seems to be showing a lot of respect to the ripe fruit.  The fruit gives way to some wonderful minerality and spice midpalate, with hints of gravel and baking spice.  In the end, the delicate tannins provide for a long, smooth, supple finish that makes you want to take your time with this wine.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's really one of the nicest zins I've had in quite a while!  I bought just one bottle of this a couple years ago, on clearance sale at Meijer of all places, so the price was a real bargain at under $16, and now I wish I'd bought more!  And what sort of end of summer barbecue am I enjoying this with?  Glad you asked, a lovely rack of slow cooked barbecued spare ribs, along with some grilled corn, baked beans, corn muffins and broccoli salad, everything you need for a summer meal out in the yard!

2008 Ravenswood Teldeschi Zinfandel

Oh how I love a good Zin, and this week has been a good week for them!  Earlier in the week our monthly wine club selection was a good Zin, and today I received a delivery of 5 bottles of 2008 Ravenswood Teldeschi Zin from wineshopper.com!  So tonight I will enjoy a bottle.

I have a long history with Ravenswood, when I was a sell side analyst, we had our monthly "dog 'n' pony" show and one time in 2000 we met with Ravenswood, one of the few publicly traded wineries.  And after the presentation by their CEO and CFO, they opened up a case of their wares for us to try, mostly reds mind you, which suited me just fine.  Needless to say, we picked up research coverage, but I was not the analyst in charge, yet I still maintained a fondness in my heart for Ravenswood, with their signature tagline "NO WIMPY WINES!" Well, eventually they were bought out, so the investment side worked well, but even afterwards, they have maintained and even expanded their great wines, moving from their own label to specialty single vineyard labels like the one I am trying tonight.

The 2008 Ravenswood Teldeschi Zinfandel comes from a great family vineyard run by the Teldeschi family and focusing on growing Zin, along with petite syrah and carignane, which are often blended with this wine.  The wine expresses everything I expect in a great Zin, the nose is full of bright fruit, blackberry, cherry, black currant, along with a wonderful hint of cedar and tobacco.  The color is an inky, dark purple that suggest the strength of the wine and the smoothness of the tannins.  On the palate it's a simply delicious and vibrant explosion of fruit, followed by a long, smooth, dry finish that is so characteristic of the Zins of the Dry Creek Valley in the Sonoma Valley.  So wonderful, it would pair well with a grilled steak, seared tuna with a wasabi glaze, or a simple Italian dish, like the sausage with onions and multi-colored peppers I am enjoying it with tonight!   Keep in mind also, this is a young wine, and although I treated myself tonight, the remaining bottles will likely be cellared for at least a few years to mature.

Overall, this wine is a little expensive, with a usual price around $35, but I got a great deal on this for only $21, and for that price I rate this a solid 8.5 to 9.0!  There are so many other great wines from Ravenswood I'd encourage you to try, from their basic everyday table reds for $8-9 to their exclusive single vineyard bottlings, they are all high quality, great wines that have never disappointed me!  Cin Cin!