(November 18, 2020) … It was rib night at the house, so that meant Zinfandel – I ended up opening two because one was a real disappointing stinker – here’s what I opened and my findings:
Kenneth Volk 2008 Zinfandel Lime Kiln Valley – Enz Vineyard … I had such high hopes for this wine, I had been saving it for awhile and now I know I should not have done that. The cork was crumbly, it was also soft and pliable (I’m thinking a pour cork from the get-go), it’s like the wine was being held in the bottle by a sponge. Upon first sniff it was very raisiny, with grape undertones, as it started to open everything softened and there was a little fruit, some white pepper, some dried plum, some apricot pit, and even some red licorice. But I got the feeling it was going to die very quickly because it was opening faster than I expected a good old Zin to open. By about the half hour mark it started going very sacramental in nature, like Mogan David from New York, sweet, saccharine-y and very unpleasant to drink as a dinner wine. Time to get a new bottle before all the ribs were gone and I had wasted a good night of food on a crappy bottle of wine.
Beran 2013 Zinfandel … This one came under screw cap, so I had no worries that the cork was going to let me down. Nice rich plum, chocolate, black cherry and delicate spices, actually very delicate spices … Super plummy with big alcohol bang of 15.3%; I was actually worried that the alcohol was not going to show up as either a smell or a taste, but when it did finally materialize it helped balance out the wine instead of taking away from it. This one was very fruit forward and definitely at its peak, I would not be waiting any longer to open this bottle (if you have any), unless you want things to start drying out and that alcohol to reign supreme.