7 Deadly Zins
I'm a zinfandel fan... It' my go to wine, the one I look to open on any old day. Which means I'm always on the lookout for bargain zins. I work for a non-profit. Bargain to me means less than $15 (and often under $10).
I found a great bargain zinfandel today in the 2004 7 Deadly Zins. Cutesy name, but the wine actually held up well. Besides biblical transgressions, the "7" refers to seven different Lodi old vine vineyards that contribute to this wine. While this wine isn't as complex as pricier old vine zinfandels, it certainly stands up as a fun and flavorful weeknight wine choice. On the nose, 7 Deadly Zins offered wonderful fruit aromas without sweetness. I got dark cherry, plum and blackberry. The nose was subtle and didn't hint at the explosion of fruit flavor that I experienced at my first sip. It had a beautiful start on the the tongue. More cherry and blackberry and hint of the mountain apple that I used to eat as a kid in Hawaii. I also tasted a bit of white pepper. This wine was a little lacking in the finish. It's not particularly tannic for a zin, and it left me wanting a bit more. Nonetheless, I would definitely buy this by the case for casual drinking.
Deirdre Wollard on Luxist agrees with me on the flavor and accessibility of this bargain wine. Snobby Craig Camp says it's a waste of time.
posted by ed @ 10:06 PM
3 Comments:
What's snobby about saying there are better values in wine than those offered at Costco? I don't argue that 7 Deadly Zins is a bad wine, just that there are other wines in the world than those with funny names and Costco makes little effort to go beyond major brand industrial wines with the payola at hand to buy their way into major retailers.
You mention that you will wait until you're in your forties to enjoy French wine as it is too expensive. That's just not true and in my opinion no country is offering a greater selection of fine wines under $20 than France. Considering that you are based in California, this kind of reverse snobbism is understandable, but if you crave elegance and distinctive terroir in wines no matter how much you pay, you are missing the boat by not exploring French (and Italian, Spanish etc.) wines.
Craig, thanks for taking the time to respond. You actually DO argue that 7 Deadly Zins is bad- you place it in the 'cute names, bad wines... who cares' category. But I have no problem with your differing opinion on the taste of a wine. I also don't think that it's snobby to say that there are better values out there than Costco. The snobby tone comes when you dismiss all Costco and BevMo wines as "industrial crap" without offering us any alternatives. So where is a budget-conscious budding wine-lover to go? My instinct is that there are many people like me who love wine, who are looking to learn more, but who don't run with sommeliers and vintners in our posses. Instead of broadly poo-pooing the accessible selections of Costco- why don't you offer some alternative venues for wines that are friendly to both tastebuds and pocketbooks.
As far as my reverse snobbism about French wines... I think that's a fair assessment. I also think it's about the fear of leaving my comfort zone and the confusion from dealing with European labels that often don't list the type of grape.
So if you are so inclined... list three of these 'fine wines under $20' and I will hunt them down and report back to you in two weeks.
Yours in snobbery,
ed
OK! I'll admit to a good deal of snobbism when it comes to food and wine, but what I am snobby about is that I want wines of individual character at all price ranges.
For a long list of French wines I like under $20 check out my article on eGullet.org:
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=95062
I don't think you'll find these wines at Costco and that means they're doing a lousy job because they're damn good wines and both bargains and distinctive AND more importantly they're easy to find as they are represented by national importers. The problem may be that these importers are not willing to bribe their way into these stores.
As far as 7 Deadly Zins, you could be right that it is more worthy than other "cute name" wines, but I still think these clever label wines should be approached with caution.
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