Last night I decided to spoil my boyfriend by making a delicious gnocchi dinner with asparagus and an heirloom tomato and blue cheese sauce. Since I like to think of myself as the adventurous type (not to mention the fact that I don't have many bottles at home right now, something I seek to remedy soon) I decided to pair it with a nice, spicy zinfandel ... to be exact, the 2006 Plungerhead Old Vine Zinfandel from the Sierra Foothills. It's normally about $15, but I got it on sale at Cost Plus for $8 ... not bad for a wine that won a Gold Medal and scored 98 Points at the 2009 California State Fair.
I decided to open it with my Soiree Instant Wine Decanter (see above), a $30 nifty little glass device that naturally aerates the wine just enough for it to be drinkable right away. It's perfect if you have a young wine that you want to enjoy immediately but are afraid it will taste too "wild" in the first hour. I have had a few instant wine decanters and this one, so far, is my favorite, because all it uses are little bumps in the glass bowl to naturally swirl (and therefore add oxygen into) the wine.
The color on this wine was a deep burgundy with a soft salmon pink halo. The nose had interesting connotations of black cherry and raspberry. The spice was especially interesting on the nose - I didn't get any pepper on it at all. Instead, I got notes of nutmeg and cinnamon.
The taste was rather sweet for a Zinfandel, with cherry, raspberry and chocolate. There was a noticeable change between the taste on the first day and the taste on the second day - first day it was incredibly sweet, but now (second day) it has a little more sweet spice to it. The spice, again, tastes remarkably of nutmeg - with a hint of salt and white pepper as well. There's the slightest hint of mint on the finish as well.
Overall, this was a very pleasant Zinfandel. Not the most traditional as far as spice and intensity, but its uniqueness makes it a nice wine to enjoy. It also tasted fantastic with the heirloom tomato and blue cheese sauce I made!
Oh...I think I may want to get that nifty little decanter thingamabob. For my boyfriend - he's kind of a wine snob (I'd say I am too, but I don't know enough about wine yet to make that claim - I've just recently started drinking it).
ReplyDelete