Monday, June 14, 2010

Gnarley Head Old Vine Zinfandel 2007wine review by (PB)


This is a $10 Zin from Lodi, Ca. and turns out to be a nice find.

It presents with a dark cherry hue with a bouquet of jammy blackberry and plum with sweet spices and a breath of blueberry.

Palate--Big "sweet" plum and blackberry flavors with companions of cola, brambles and black licorice. We served it with grilled, marinated sirloin tips which were marginal but the wine was fine!

What was interesting with this wine is that I perused various other's reviews at the many retail sites "out there" that enable anyone to write a review of one of the wines they sell. I read about 10 different reviews and 9 of them gave half-hearted approval of this wine with comments like, "lacked complexity," "boring mouth feel," and various ho-hum comments. Only one person said, "I don't understand why everyone seems to pan this wine. We served it at a tasting of 10 zins and it was clear and away the favorite."

Everyone has an opinion on what they like--that's fair. But as I have written in the past, there is an objective element to wine review and to what constitutes a good wine versus a bad wine personal preference not withstanding!

This IS a good example of the grape and is well made. At the price, this is a nice Zin--period. The Wine Cask Blog exists to give you the benefit of our experience with thousands of bottles of wines we have downed. That is the only way one can adequately and reliably review wines. So raise a glass--here's to YOU!

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