2004 Rosenblum Redwood Valley Annette's Reserve Zin

We bought this wine when we dropped by the vineyard to pick up our club shipment. Pam was working the tasting room and as usual knew exactly what I like.

This Zin is more transparent in colour than most of the good Doctor's wines, with a browner tinge than you would expect from a young wine like this one, with a hint of sediment. It had legs even before the swirl, so it promised to be big!

This wine had the aroma of pluots that I have come to associate with Rosenblum. There were also hints of cinnamon. It tasted of plums, apricots, chocolate, chocolate and chocolate some more. Very tasty. There is a pucker of tannin that follows a full mouth gargle, and nutmegs on the finish.

We had this wine with left-over Indian food (dahl bhat and chicken makanwala). Who says that whites go better with Asian food? This Zin held up to the complex flavours of an Indian curry with bells on. I would say that it went better with this curry than the '99 Pacini went with the Kobe beef.

The presentation was good. It came in a Bordeaux bottle with an agglomerated synthetic cork. The back label gives some info, and the tasting notes give more.

The Verdict:

Yum. Glad I bought two. Want more.

Style:	Zinfandel
Varietals:	Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignane
Appellation/Terrior:	Redwood Valley, California
Vintage:	2004
Vintner:	Rosenblum
Alcohol:	15.5% by Volume
Price:	$28.55

2005 Kenwood Russian River Pinot Noir

This is a restaurant wine. We bought it at a restaurant, and indeed, it's part of Kenwood's Sonoma Series made specifically for the restaurant trade.

We were staying at Safari West (Highly recommended BTW) and the dinner that night was BBQ Chicken. We bought this wine because $30 for a bottle of Kenwood was better than $6 for a glass of wine-from-a-box. It's a pinot because BBQ Chicken was what was on the menu.

The colour was highly transparent (to be expected) and reminiscent of watermelon juice. It was sweet on the nose, and went down like Kool-Aide. It had a charcoal finish. As the evening progressed, it got cooler out which in turn chilled the bottle, and it actually improved the wine.

The presentation was fair. It came in a Burgundy style bottle with a real cork. The labeling was poor. The front label had nothing on it but the legals, and the rear stated two facts:

• "Grapes for this years pinot were grown..." - Indicating that they do not use the same vineyards year after year, making a verticle tasting meaningless.
• Aged in French oak for one year

Not a lot to go on. The tasting notes are a little better.

The Verdict:

It was a restaurant wine at a zoo. It was as good as could be expected.

Style:	Burgundy
Varietals:	Pinot Noir
Appellation/Terrior:	Russian River, California
Vintage:	2005
Vintner:	Kenwood
Alcohol:	14.5% by Volume
Price:	$30.00

2004 Trinitas Napa Cab

This is why I like wine clubs. This cab showed up in the mail (with it's twin) and there is no mention of it on Trinitas's web site. Not even when you log in as a member to buy wine. This is a wine I never would have gotten to taste if I was not a member of the "Trinitas Wine Society" And let me tell you, I would have missed a fantastic wine.

This is the third of three bottles that we opened up for the Venison BBQ on Wednesday. Yes it's a little young for a cab; but I had two of them so I could lay one down and taste one now; and boy am I glad I did because even though I am not partial to Bordeaux varietals; this wine knocked my socks off.

It was legless (but then again so was I by the time I finished it) and a deep (but not bright) purple. Inhaling it's aroma got me high on apricots or perhaps even pluots. There was a charcoal taste on top of the fruit; but hey; cabs are not supposed to have this much fruit.

Since there was an oaky bite in the finish, we let the wine open up a bit and poured some more. Now we get legs; and inhaling it's aroma was like a wake up call of goodness.

The presentation was ok. It came with a real cork in a Bordeaux bottle, with no extra data on the label.

The Verdict:

I will buy more if Trinitas ever releases this one. I'm not sure that the other bottle that I have will last long in my cellar, simply because I want to drink it now.

Style:	Bordeaux
Varietals:	Cabernet Sauvingnon
Appellation/Terrior:	Napa Valley, California
Vintage:	2004
Vintner:	Trinitas
Alcohol:	14.5% by Volume
Price:	$28.98