2018 Mettler Family Vineyards Zinfandel Old Vine Epicenter, USA, California, Lodi, Wine Review

Deep garnet in color. The nose takes twenty minutes to open and then shows black cherries, raspberries and spice. Medium to full bodied. Medium tannins. Nice black cherry fruit on the palate. Some vanilla. The finish builds but it does have some heat. Leaning toward the bigger side of Lodi Zin but not all the way there. Very pleasant. This should be consumed in the next five years. A nice wine with a burger or comfort food like mac and cheese.

Grade:

B+

Score:

Vintage:

2018

Current Price:

$18.00USD

Top Ten California Zinfandels - 2016

I tend to taste and drink a lot of wine over the course of a year. I am in a few tasting groups, sometimes the wines are consumed at various local wine store tastings and a number drunk with friends and family.

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2016 Klinker Brick Zinfandel Old Vine Old Ghost, USA, California, Lodi, Wine Review

Vintage:

2016

Score:

Grade:

A-

Current Price:

$37.00USD

This is one of the consistently better Zinfandels from Lodi. Purple in color, ruby at the rim. Mostly opaque and bright. The nose has cherries and coffee along with a bit of an herbal streak. Full bodied. On the palate this has light tannins. Nice black cherry fruit. Maybe a bit of dates. A bit of late heat on the finish. This drinks well on its own and will work well with a steak or a burger off the grill. Drink over the next five to seven years.

2017 Mt. Luxxe Vineyards Zinfandel Old Vine, USA, California, Lodi, Wine Review

Vintage:

2017

Score:

Grade:

B+

Current Price:

$10.00USD

This is a nice, inexpensive, middle of the road in style, Lodi zinfandel. Purple in color, mostly opaque and bright. The nose has black cherries, raspberries, slight bramble and spice. Medium bodied. On the palate, nice black cherry fruit. Easy drinking. Drinks well on its own and will work great with a burger off the grill. Drink over the next couple of years.

2016 Maggio Family Vineyards Old Vine Zinfandel, USA, California, Lodi, Wine Review

Vintage:

2016

Score:

Grade:

This is a $10 bottle of Zinfandel. It is just about exactly what one would expect (in a good way). Purple/ruby in color. The nose has cherries with some alcohol. Slightly candied. On the palate, cherries with some heat. A bit dusty. No complexity but nothing really off either. This would make a nice choice at a large party.

Wines to Go Buy This Week: "Comfort Wines" - A Zinfandel by Glenn Hawk and Tulip Hill's Cabepulciano (yeah you read that right)

I live in San Francisco and January weather here means 50 degrees and rain. Constant bone-chilling rain, or so it seems. And before the rest of America emails to remind me how good I have it and how freaking cold it is in New York or Ohio or whatever other frozen tundra they call home, I'm just gonna say that when you are cold, you are cold, and comfort food -and comfort wine- goes a long way towards warming your heart when Old Man Winter starts to have his way with you. So with this in mind, I bring you two comfort wines you should go buy this week. Glenn Hawk Zinfandel - I typically don't gravitate to Zinfandel. I associate Zins with "cocktail wines", that is, wines that are delicious for a few sips of a single glass but can be a bit too fruity and overwhelming for those of us who tend towards enjoying multiple glasses. So I don't recommend many Zinfandels simply because I don't drink many of them. Every once in a while I stumble back down the Zinfandel path and am reminded of how good the varietal can be. I recently tried the 2009 Glenn Hawk Zinfandel from Livermore Valley (just south of Napa in the shadow of Mt. Diablo).

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2018 Mettler Family Vineyards Zinfandel Old Vine Epicenter, USA, California, Lodi, Wine Review

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Top Ten California Zinfandels - 2016

2016 Klinker Brick Zinfandel Old Vine Old Ghost, USA, California, Lodi, Wine Review

2017 Mt. Luxxe Vineyards Zinfandel Old Vine, USA, California, Lodi, Wine Review

2016 Maggio Family Vineyards Old Vine Zinfandel, USA, California, Lodi, Wine Review

Wines to Go Buy This Week: "Comfort Wines" - A Zinfandel by Glenn Hawk and Tulip Hill's Cabepulciano (yeah you read that right)