Guess Who's Back...

And just in time for ZAP! ZinfanGirl apologizes for falling of the wine-o wagon, but that kind of thing tends to happen around the holidays. Anyhoo, I am back, and am gearing up for a weekend of Zinful fun!

ZinfanHubby & I will be volunteering in the AM at Fort Mason (wristbands & check-in-- come say hi!). After that we will attempt to sample as much grape juice as our little livers can handle. While volunteers are given a shirt to wear during their shifts, I still plan on wearing my snazzy "Living in Zin" hat:

But will I wear my beloved Biale shirt, or switch things up and sport my Four Vines "ZinBitch" tank top? I am quite pleased with my growing collection of wine-o wear, but for this very special event I better keep it Zin-related.

Will I see you there, dear ZinfanReaders?

Zinfan-Birthday-Girl!

ZinfanGirl is a spoiled lil girl indeed! After a "fake" surprise birthday Thursday night to throw me off the trail, ZinfanHubby surprised me with the coolest birthday party I have ever had. ZinfanGirl's favorite candy is the local Jelly Belly brand jelly beans. ZinfanGirl's favorite drink is wine. Fave candy + fave wine =

Jelly Bean Wine Bar

Brilliant! I walked into a room to be greeted by 20 great ZinfanFriends and a whole lot of Jelly Bellies & wine.

ZinfanHubby sets up the "wine tasting" and the big surprise!

Blackberry (?) flavored Jelly Belly beans to pair with Central Coast Zinfandel

Can you believe there is a dirt flavored Jelly Belly?!

Lots of Zinfandels on hand, natch!

Super-duper, infinitely cool times eleventy billion. Props, ZinfanHubby! Everyone had a blast, wine novices & connoisseurs alike. Though I was not part of the plotting & set-up, I can deduce that this tasting takes quite awhile to set up (labelling the bean flavors, sorting them by "wine") and can cause a small mess (alcohol + small candies = mess). But it was a huge hit, and an awesome way to get newbies involved.

And if any ZinfanFriends out there would like to give it a try, please let me know. We have tons of leftover jelly beans (yet surprisingly, no leftover wine).

Jelly Bellies Up!

-ZFG

*Thanks to my lovely ZinfanFriend D for letting me nab her pics for this blog.

Review: 2006 Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Chardonnay Reserve

As I've mentioned a bit lately, the Chards have been my most recent wine of choice. Robert Mondavi's '06 Chard Reserve is another yum-yum in my book.
ZinfanHubby & I had visited Mondavi for the first time back in May while in Napa for our anniversary. As members of another Constellation wine club (Ravenswood), we got to skip the crowded main tasting room and got the VIP treatment & tasting (& cheese!) in the back. We do not buy white wines often, much less Chardonnay, but this one was too good.
ZinfanGirl's first thought upon opening the bottle: hello, mellow yellow! I mean seriously, "honey" "straw" and even "golden" don't do this wine justice. Next up was the smell. I am instantly transported back to my younger days as Non-AlcoholicGirl, as this Chard smells exactly like Martinelli's sparkling apple cider. Maybe this wine was created with kids in mind: it has undertones of caramel apple... or is it kettle corn? Slightly creamy yet tart yet fruity. Yum. Keep out of the reach of kids, OK?

Review: 2008 Qupé "Y" Block Chardonnay

I think my "weather-appropriate wine-o-meter" device is off because man! I am loving Chardonnay lately! One would think that with the cooler weather and shorter days that reds would be at the top of ZinfanGirl's list, but the Chards keep pulling through.

Last night, it was on me to find a wine to pair with a lemon-pepper pasta dish we were making for dinner. I think I did good with Qupe's 2008 "Y" Block Chardonnay. Well actually, Whole Foods did good, as I selected this wine based on WF's review that it "pairs well with poultry or seafood pasta." We've been loving the Central Coast lately as well, so it seemed like a good bet.

The color is extremely pale: straw with some very mild green undertones. It smells buttery (hi, oak barrels) yet slightly crisp. ZinfanGirl likes butter, so buttery Chards are always a plus. First sip has a very buttery forward and middle, and a lingering finish throughout the mouth. There is not much acid in this wine-- surprising for a white wine, IMO. The climax of this wine is in the forward; the back is a bit lacking. But it did pair fabulously with our lemon-pepper-chicken-pasta, so it all worked out well in the end.

Cheers!

It's All in the Glass

Earlier this year, ZinfanHubby, ZinfanSis & I trekked up north to Oregon to visit my lovely Gram & Grandpa. Ashland, Oregon really is a cute little town, most known for its annual Shakespeare Festival. Though they are wonderful, warm hosts who love having their grandkids visit, Gram & Grandpa don't have much energy for getting out and about, and the three of us spent quite a bit of time exploring the little town while they relaxed at home.

In search of a refreshment, we happened across Liquid Assets. Denise, the owner, was happy to recommend some snacks, suggest some wine flights and a non-alcoholic drink for underage ZinfanSis. We were delighted with their small but solid selection of bottles; it's been awhile, but I know they had a Biale or two (!!!) for sale. We walked away with a bottle of Resonance Vineyard Pinot Noir, a biodynamic Oregonian wine. When in Rome & all that...

Imagine our surprise when we got the wine back to my grandparents' house, removed the capsule and see... glass? No, not the bottle (c'mon, ZinfanGirl isn't that dense), but where the cork should be there was glass instead. What in the...?!?!

The next day we returned to Liquid Assets, and Denise explained the story behind the corkless cork. Resonance winery prides itself on being sustainable and biodynamic, and eschew corks (and the harvesting of cork trees) in favor of glass. Hm, makes sense. Denise continued to tell us that the glass "cork" could also be used as a stopper on other bottles. Sustainable indeed!

ZinfanHubby & I always nab Pinot Noirs for Thanksgiving. We instantly thought of Resonance and their cool glass stopper. Alas, The Resonance Pinot Noir is all but sold out, but another Oregon winery, Sineann, makes a well-reviewed Pinot from Resonance vineyard grapes. Sineann is also corkless, and explains a bit behind their cork-free wines on their site. Sineann's site claims that glass stoppers do not compromise the taste or quality of the wine; in fact, it touts glass stoppers as being superior to cork in terms of fruit preservation and consistency among bottle quality. ZinfanGirl appreciates this, but mostly likes the glass stoppers because they look frickin' cool.

After a bit of research, ZinfanGirl can tell you that Resonance wines, and possibly Sineann as well, use the "Vino-Seal" glass stopper by Alcoa (check out an interesting article about wineries using Alcoa's corkless stopper here). I have heard much debate over real cork vs. synthetic cork vs. screw-cap, but not much talk about glass. Why not? Granted I don't know much about the scientific aspects of each which would obviously determine which is the "best" sealing method, but... didn't I mention that the glass stoppers are frickin' cool?!

ZinfanReaders, I'd love to hear your thoughts on glass stoppers. Experiences, opinions, theories, stories... send 'em my way.

Zinfully yours,

-ZFG

Review: Four Vines 2006 Syrah (One Tree Hill)

On our recent trip to Paso Robles, we popped by one of our new favorite wineries/most recent wine club, Four Vines. Sadly, they were indeed still out of the Sophisticate Zinfandel that we love so much, but that didn't stop us from nabbing a few more bottles. One of them was their 2006 Los Alamos vineyard One Tree Hill Syrah. As I believe I have mentioned before, ZinfanGirl is usually indifferent about Syrah, but once again Four Vines is able to surprise me.

Reddish with almost a carmel hue to it, this Syrah isn't as POW! as most other Syrahs I've had. Four Vines claims this is due to the "low yield cool climate," which is fine by me. Leggy with just enough fruit, the main aroma and flavors of this one are spice & pepper. The body is rounded and smooth, noticeable in the mouth but not too heavy. Clean finish with just a linger of peppery goodness. I bet this would go well with blackened... well, blackened anything, really, which is probably what prompted ZinfanHubby to nab a bottle.

Another Four Vines success story, but overall I will stick to their Zinfandels and blends. Just you wait 'til I review their 2007 Cypher. That is going to be fun!

Review: 2006 Seghesio Home Ranch Petite Sirah

**Apologies, as I was not able to find a picture of Seghesio's 2006 Home Ranch Petite Sirah. Under the Grape Tree blog has a picture up, but since ZinfanGirl is cautious of photo theft & copyright infringement & blah blah blah, she figured she'd just link to the blog (and their review of the same wine) instead.**

There are two wines that ZinfanGirl can almost always peg on site: white Zinfandel, and Petite Sirah. Looking at this wine sitting in my glass, I see this is a fairly leggy wine, dripping slowly down the edges as I swirl it. It smells warm, the way pumpkin pie smells warm-- don't get me wrong, I am not saying this wine smells like pumpkin pie (although that actually sounds kinda yummy...). Maybe it's clove or cinnamon. Let's give it a taste, shall we?

Wow, what a body on this wine! The mid-palate is where it's at! The warmth of the nose also continues down my throat, but not in an unpleasant burning way. Tannins in the finish are just enough to be noticed but without the moisture-sucking-ness of, say, a Cabernet Sauvignon.

There is definitely a dark/bramble fruit presence but it takes a back seat to the "warmy" essence. It's a toasted spice of some sort-- I bet this would make for an interesting mulled wine if it weren't so heavy. And at 15.5% alcohol, definitely proceed with caution. ZinfanGirl is continuously amazed at how just a 1% - 2% increase in alcohol/volume can affect her body & brain (like the time ZinFanHubby brought a bottle of Seghesio's Venom to France. After having spent months drinking 12% alcohol/volume French wines, one sip of this 16+% sangiovese knocked me on my ZinfanAss).

Although I think this wine *could* be matched up with food, its unique flavors and luscious body make it a fine stand-alone wine. Thumbs up, Seghesio.