“No Wimpy Wines” is the mantra of Ravenswood, a California Winery that is spread out in a few parts of the Cali Wine Country. I give them much credit as they are a fairly large winery, yet they’ve managed to compartmentalize themselves so that their products are of notable quality.

They do have a blended Zin, it is their “California Vintners Blend” label, noted by the gold foil top.

That is a decent wine, but for literally a dollar or two more, you can get their Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel, a fabulously delightful, under $20 bottle (maybe under $25, depends on where you live and the taxes involved). It is noticeable by the silver top and its also shorter than nearly everyother foil top around, you can actually see the cork. I took mine off, so I googled the image below, it’s much older (a ‘94) but there are some serious “lul’s” for the first gen ipod on the desk:

It is deep and red with many notes of lush purple, indicative of the fact that it’s a little young at 2006. It’s a little brash on the palate to drink alone, a good Zin is big and this is no exception, so this wine is optimal with red meats like lamb chops or a nice big steak, so get a bottle and fire up the grill. Veggie-wise, pick something you can caramelize to bring out their natural sweetness, you don’t want a bitter taste like asparagus, it would not compliment this wine. If you don’t want to make a full meal but you want to crack this bottle open, some pistachios or cashews would provide the proteins to bring out the flavor in this wine.  This wine has big, bold fruit on the front and a tart, cooked fruit flavor on the back. There are most definitely tannins in this wine, you will feel that loss of moisture as you drink it.

Here is a bad picture of what the bottle looks like (my significant other isn’t as good at taking pictures as she thinks and I can’t find my Digi-camera, sorry):

If you plan on aging this, I think that would be a fabulous idea. I don’t know if you will have the disciple to do so (this is some pretty tasty stuff), maybe get a case, drink 6 and save the other half for aging.

Keep drinking wine and leave comments if you want me to add some recipes!

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I live in the Detroit area and I'm working toward certification as a wine expert, called a Master Sommelier. So far I'm in the Guild. Aside from working six days a week, I spend way too much time playing video games and putzing around on the internet. I'm also a Michigan State Graduate (BS Human resources, BA Sociology) and a hardcore sports fan.
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