Tonight, I'm having an Old Vine Zinfandel. I don't believe I've ever had one designated as "Old Vine." It doesn't necessarily mean anything, but I guess some people think grapes from older vines taste better.
Ironstone hails from "the historic Gold Rush town of Murphys, CA," according to the label. Doing some research (Wikipedia), Ironstone is the 17th largest winery in the country, that must be a big reason why I found it in my tiny local liquor store. This particular 2008 vintage is from their Lodi appellation vineyard. It's 14.5% ABV, just the way I like it. I read that Zinfandels are very high in sugar and wine made from them can sometimes exceed 15%.
Something I thought was interesting is that Zinfandel vines were ripped up during the prohibition period in favor of a "thicker skinned Alicante Bouschet" because it made the trip east with far less trouble.
How does it look to you? Pretty good huh? It's pretty dark. It has a nice deep red color and it's pretty consistent holding it up to the light. I don't know what that means exactly, but I'm pretty ready to give this two-year-old a little taste.
I smell some dark fruits, some spices and some pepper. My girlfriend said it smelled like summer sausage. I didn't agree, but everyone has their own experience. She gave her glass to me, so I'll be double fisting as I write the rest of this.
This might be my first all positive review! This was delicious. I tasted plum, not the sour kind. I think it has very good fruit flavors. The mouthfeel was bold, but very soft and smooth in the mouth. It seems pretty heavy to me, and I like that, a lot. It has pretty long legs, which I enjoy looking at even if they mean nothing to me.
The finish is pretty long. It's kind of acidic and it lingers on the tongue for quite a while. The problem is I'm enjoying the taste so much that I'm not always letting it get to that point.
My research tells me I did a pretty good job tonight. I'll "cheers" myself to that. Wineintro.com says "The color of a zinfandel wine is deep red, bordering on black. Zinfandel is a spicy, peppery wine, with a hint of fruity flavor - berries or dark cherries are often the taste range." So now I'll put my stamp of approval on this one.
Out of 5
Appearance: 5 - This got off to a good start, with a deep attractive color. I may not know what experts think a wine's color should but, but this looked so tasty to me that it was hard not to start drinking it right away. But, then again, for me that's true with just about any drink.
Aroma: 4 - This had a solid smell, mostly spicy and peppery with a hint of some fruit, but I couldn't single out any specific fruits when smelling it.
Taste: 4 - You're already aware I was a big fan of the taste. I thought plum initially, which I'm a big fan of, but you could probably get any number of dark, bold fruit flavor.
Finish: 4 - The finish lasted a while, and it was a good one. At first it was some fruit, then you got a little of the acidity, but then it got almost velvety (in a much more enjoyable way than The Velvet Devil) and that lingered on the tongue for quite a while.
Drinkability: 4 - I'm having a hard time writing this and not enjoying both of these glasses. It's a little heavy, so it might be hard to drink a lot of, but I doubt that's going to stop me from trying.
For about $10 for the bottle, I'm thrilled right now. Maybe I'm easily pleased, but I didn't really expect this after I was told it smelled like sausage.
If you enjoyed the music from my video clip, it was The Great Estates by The Freelance Whales. If you didn't watch the clip, you should check them out anyway if you haven't already.
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