Alexander Valley Vineyards “Sin Zin” Alexander Valley Zinfandel 2007
The strength of my interests tends to take place in waves. One month I’ll be preoccupied with whiskey, tasting several and reading all I can about it, the next week my attention will turn to beer, perhaps blisteringly hoppy IPAs, then on to coffee, followed by scotch, followed by…you get the picture. Because my interest in these various delectable beverages is driven as much by intellectual curiosity as sheer enjoyment, what I end up tasting is very often driven by what I’m enjoying reading about at any given moment.
Recently, the pendulum has swung towards wine, and zinfandel in particular. This is due in part to my love of the zinfandel from Nalle Winery (whose mailer I received recently, and I have to say that it’s very well done and a great enticement to purchase some of their wines! Darn shipping laws!). Recently, I learned that this year they’ve bottled separately the wine made from grapes grown in the field directly in front of the winery. I remember visiting there a few years ago and walking amidst that small plot of vines. How cool to know that they’ve bottled that wine separately. Now if only their wine came out thisaways!
Anyhow, I’ve always loved Nalle’s zinfandel, and as a result I often get drawn back to this grape and the unique and exciting wines that certain producers make from it. During these digressions down the zinfandel path, I end up leafing through Stephen Brook’s California Wine for the umpteenth time, reading the section on zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley, Nalle, Ridge, Ravenswood, etc. I dig up interviews with Doug Nalle, Paul Draper, and others. And I stroll through the aisles of wine shops, admiring bottles of zin from Dry Creek Valley, Alexander Valley, Paso Robles, and other appellations on occasion (admittedly, those are my go-to appellations for zinfandel).
Alexander Valley Vineyards‘ Sin Zin has been one of my favorite zinfandels for many years now, and so when we ran across several bottles of the 2007 vintage at a bargain price, I didn’t hesitate to stock up. Sin Zin is made from grapes grown in the Alexander Valley appellation, adjacent to the Dry Creek Valley and Russian River Valley appellations. It’s one of three uniquely named zinfandels from AVV, alongside Redemption Zin (Dry Creek Valley appellation) and Temptation Zin (Sonoma County appellation). Ever since I first came across Sin Zin, nearly 15 years ago, the label has been the same. Black with red lettering and a drawing of someone imbibing languorously from a wine-filled horn.
As for particulars about the wine, there’s not a lot of information to go on. The wine spends 10 months in American oak barrels, 25% of them new, before being bottled. The 2007 vintage arrives at 14.4%, a not uncommon level of alcohol for California zinfandels.
Tasting Notes
In the glass, the wine is a deep, plush purple red with ruby highlights. The nose has loads of dark red fruits, raspberries, black cherries, and currants, along with warming notes of vanilla, oak, and cedar. The palate is densely textured, with soft, plush tannins and flavors of black cherries, raspberries, currants, oak, soft, vanilla and a whiff of smoky wood presence lurking in the background. The finish continues the theme of deep, dark red fruits with black raspberry sweetness lingering in a medium-length finish.
This is a wonderful zinfandel that captures much of what makes zin such a fun and fascinating wine. It’s rich with dark brambly fruits, has a wonderful texture, and just enough added vanilla and spice from the oak aging. And at this price point (~$20-$25) this is, in my mind, one of the best zinfandels out there.
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