Saturday Night – Mick’s grilling up a storm – Part 2

Click here for Part 1

For the main course Mick did a batch of chicken quesadillas. He paired them with a 2007 Seghesio "Old Vines" Zinfandel.

"Classic"

Seghesio is a winery that Mick and I both love for Zinfandels and their "Sonoma County" Zinfandel has been excellent year after year. We were both excited and anxious to try the "Old Vines" Zinfandel.

"Old Vines? Seghesio? Count me in!"

The nose on the wine was huge with aromas of cherry, tobacco, black pepper and cigar box. After inhaling that wonderful nose, I was almost drooling and couldn’t wait to taste it. Unfortunately, the taste wasn’t as nice as the nose as the flavour had almost a medicinal taste to it like cherry flavour Halls, there was also some eucalyptus and licorice flavours to it. Mick described the flavours as "oppressive’ and was disappointed that it wasn’t as smooth and rounded as other Seghesio Zinfandels that we’ve tried. The finish lasted for a long time but this wasn’t a good thing as the flavours that lingered were ones that you wished didn’t. It wasn’t a bad pairing with the food however and that was probably the wine’s saving grace.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 85, Mark – 84, Kathy – 82, Amy – 86, Overall – 84.25.

Here is the LCBO information –

SEGHESIO OLD VINE ZINFANDEL 2007

VINTAGES 56879
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 39.95
Wine, Red Wine
15.6% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : D
Made in: California/Californie, United States
By: Seghesio Wineries
Release Date: Jun 26, 2010

Tasting Note - The 2007 Zinfandel Old Vine (a selection from the oldest vineyards) reveals a dense ruby/purple-tinged color as well as a floral, blueberry and black raspberry-scented nose, a rich, full-bodied mouthfeel, and serious tannin in the background. Textured, rich, and long with considerable upside, it can be drunk now or cellared for a decade. Score - 90+. (Robert Parker Jr., www.erobertparker.com, Feb. 2010)

We might have been a tad harsh on this wine but with the $40 price point and the Seghesio label, I was expecting more from this wine. My biggest beef with it was, the other Seghesio Zinfandels we’ve tried had a subtleness to them that made them so wonderful and there was nothing subtle about this wine.

The chicken quesadillas were wonderful (as always). We finished the evening with raisin tea biscuits, Devonshire double clotted cream and strawberry jam.

I’d like to thank Mick for all his hard work and look forward to our next Saturday night dinner.

Cheers!

Mark