Saturday night – the sins of the Zin, part 1

Kathy and I were at our favourite Saturday night hangout – Mick and Amy’s for dinner. Mick had his chef’s hat on and his “I’m the Grill Master!” apron and was ready to go when we arrived. He had a couple of new dishes on tap for the evening, some new wines to try as well as some old favourites.

"Pass the rudy port..."

The first course was BBQ’d Chicken wings and a bottle of Zinfandel to go with them. I was excited to see his Zinfandel choice - a 2004 “San Francisco Bay” Rosenblum Zinfandel. I have always liked Rosenblum ever since trying their 2001 Zinfandel. Rosenblum was the first red Zinfandel I'd ever tried and are the standard to which I hold and judge other red Zinfandels to. The basic Rosenblum Zinfandels from 2001-2005 were excellent, though the 2006 seems to have lost the magic of the earlier years.

Enough preamble, time to get to the wine... the nose on the 2004 “San Francisco Bay” Rosenblum Zinfandel had a huge cherry aroma and a marzipan note in the background.

"Citrus latifolia or as it's commonly known - Limes"

I was shocked at the first sip of this wine and almost got up to check the label on the bottle to confirm this was actually a Zinfandel. This was more like a ruby port than a Zinfandel. It was incredibility heavy, thick, sweet and cloying. I like a big Zin but this one was so far over the top it was almost stupid. The flavors on the wine consisted of a mix between candied cherry and wine gums.

"BBQ'd love!"

It was just OK with the chicken wings which was a shame as the chicken wings were truly excellent and deserved a better wine to go with them.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick - 83, Mark - 80, Kathy – 82, Amy -82, Overall – 81.75.

I couldn’t find any LCBO information on the 2004 “San Francisco Bay” Rosenblum Zinfandel, so I’m assuming Mick picked this up in the US.

Here is what the Wine Spectator had to say about this wine –

Rosenblum Zinfandel San Francisco Bay Appellation Series 2004

Superripe and jammy, with a sweet edge to the fruit that robs it, for me, of its varietal character. OK as a red wine that may be a touch sweet. Drink now. 12,000 cases made. –JL

Score – 82, Price $18.

At $18 US per bottle, that works out to about $29 CDN after duty and taxes. At that price point there are many more attractive Zinfandels out there for less money.

Part II