Great show. In my neck of the woods (Ontario)I’ve enjoyed the Ravenswood and Dancing Bull. Another great zin I enjoyed is from Cline.

I hope I can find the Peachy Canyon here.

I truly love foie gras especially with truffles.

I’m going to do a similar pairing with friends and I’ll let you know how it went.

Cheers

Zind and foie gras…yum Probably had 2-300 Zinds in my life. In Paso Robles tasted at least 30 last February. My favorites are still Turley Zinds almost any of them but I have excellent Ravenswood single vineyards, Rosenblum single vineyards, Rafenelli, also one of my favorites the 2004 is outstanding, also have a dozen Teldeschi Zinds and some from Elyse so do I like Zind…damn straight. One of my all time favorite wines. Have had Peachy Canyon in restaurants and haven’t been thrilled but I will try a whole bottle to see if the experience is better.

I’ve had a couple of dozen Zins in the last year or so, from $5 wines I picked up at Trader Joe’s just for grins (worth every penny) on up. Personal favorite is Tobin James Dusi Vineyards. Zins work with burgers and foie gras. You’ve gotta love it.

Zin! Yes! Love the stuff! Ravenswood is the one I’ve had the most. After that? I can’t really tell you how many others Ive had for sure. Maybe 15? I know the worst was a Sutter Home Zin. It was cheap and I didn’t have much in pocket.

Another reason I watch without fail is that I can hear about wines I’ve never tasted. Since the last Zinfadel I drank was Sutter Home or McDowell back in the 80’s I really couldn’t comment so….I bought a bottle of the Ravenswood Lodi 2005 and paired it with some pate as fois gras wasn’t readily available. My first impression was it was quite fruity and jammy and then it took a spicy turn with peppery notes. All that fruit added up to 15% alcohol which is higher than I normally quaff. The french bread and pate were all gone way before the Ravenswood. Nice combination and I need to take the advice of the crowd and try some Ridge, Rosenblum, Turley, Seghesio and the Prisoner! (One of my all time favorite tv shows from the British era or spy shows) We get a lot of Canada Geese in this area as they naturally take to water and live here year round. An old boss of mine made some goose liver pate from them and he got into a lot of trouble. Fois gras seared with country ham on polenta with blackberry sauce is a signature dish at the Inn at Little Washington.

I’ve had some Primitivo but it didn’t show the fruit of the Cali Zin. Since it’s a native vine and there is a lot of gnarly old growths we should drink it on the Fourth of July! Thanks all for the suggestions and BBQ pairings.

BB

QOTD: I have had only a few Zinfandels. Cline has a couple that I like. Rosenblum is ok. I have a Gott in the basement that I look forward to being in the mood to drink. I have had the Ravenswood Vintners blend, but do not remember what it was like.

OK … lurker of about 2 weeks. Love the show, the passion, the originality that Gary brings. Please keep wine fun. Why should that be hard? It’s not.

My favorite all-time zin is Rafanelli. I think they make a classic zin, bright fruit, a little spicy, great polish and pairs great with the grilled food I like. Plus I like the poeple there.

Other faves:
Seghesio — great value for classic zin

Ridge — geyserville is my favorite Ridge zin

Unti — I love their wines and the zin and syrah never disappoint

Martinelli makes some nice zins but lately I feel they are just a little to overcooked.

Turley — I have a scary amount of Turley but stopped buying after the ’03 vintage. Just too many of the wines were one-dimensionally stewed plums. That’s all I got… and I’m not a big fan of that flavor.

Hartford — but they can get hard to have with meals for me… especially their more expensive efforts like Dina’s and Highwire

Howell Mtn Vyrds — their zins have a really nice mary jane quality i find…. intoxicating

I suppose I’ve drunk zins from 30 or so producers. I don’t drink as much as I used to but I like how I can find good ones for

Foie gras!! Tastes good but apparently those poor ducks are force fed in an inhumane way to get their liver all beafed up!! A movement is starting among some of the world class restaurants to boycott foie gras because of the animal cruelty involved!!
zins…hmmm…have tried like a dozen with no real thunder to talk about…got turned off Zins for a while but they’ve been recently on my comeback list…

Smooth move, spitting the crackers into the bucket.

Gary, I’m going with 2 favorite zins – 1997 Rancho Zabaco Heritage Vines Zin (1997 was such a good year for CA wines) and I think it was an 03 Red & Green Chiles Canyon.
I’ve drunk maybe 106 different zins, but if you count Primitivos, then it’s still 106.

Oh yeah another great one was the 01 Seghesio Old Vines….nectar

Love the pairing of foie gras as well as the rest of a duck with Zinfandel. I LOVE Zins. I have been to a few ZAP (Zinfandel Advocate Producers) tastings and have seen Zins transform over the year from the big 17% alcohol Cline and Turley to the Zin blends like Orin Swift The Prisoner and Marietta.

QOTD Favorite Zinfandel -1996 Turley AIDA. One of my top wines ever of any varietal.

Zin is cool!

A couple of months ago, my wife bought Schuetz Oles 2001 Zinfandel (Korte Ranch) on a whim because she knew I liked Zin. I had never heard of it, but it turned out to be the best Zin I’ve had so far. Had all the great Zin qualities without as much heat. I also like Cline and Gnarly Head.

QOTD: We’ve had about a dozen different Zins. We love Zin. One of our favorites has been the 2003 Lamborn Family Vineyards Zin. Papa’s Vintage. Lamborn will no longer sale to WA State…can you get some in?

We’ve also enjoyed Hendry’s Zin. Block 7 (2003/2004)

My favorite Zin before Ravenswood was the 1895 Simi, tasted in 1975 and again in 1981 … still full of complex fruit and a great benchmark for all subsequent Zins. Love Ridge almost as much as Ravenswood. Have had too many to count over the years. I am curious about how well John Kemble is doing with the Hawkes Bay, New Zealand Kemblesfield Zin…anybody had it?

Gary,
Bring me some Foie Gras, please…. and some good cheese from your deli.
Hugs

QOTD: The Best Zin I have ever had is the Haywood Sonoma Valley Rockey Terrace Los Chamizal Vinyard 1999-drank it 2003 fall at the Buena Vista Tasting room in Sonoma. Loved it so much bought 3 bottles and gave two of them away (to share te thunder with friends for Xmas presents), and still have one in storage.

Have had approx. 60 zins in my 18 years of tasting/drinking wine.

dude – did we have to see the regurgitated Foie? my go-to is C G DiArie Southern Exposure though i hear good things lately about Scott Harvey. been drink Zin before drinking was legal for me!

my favorite zins are Biale especially Black Chicken and Rosenblum St. Peter’s Church. Also, I have enjoyed Carlisle.

I think it’s hilarious how people CONTINUALLY hail Zinfandel as being native to America. It’s not! It’s not “America’s Grape.” America doesn’t have a grape except maybe Concorde – they’re ALL “imports.”

Back on to Foie Gras.

A friend of mine from France recently brought be an entire foie gras. I will be eating it soon. My mother is coming over from the states with a “surprise pack” of wine. Hopefully there is a Zin. If there is, I’ll be having them together and Gary, I’ll let you know.

I propose we start a lobby group protecting the eating/selling of Foie Gras. There was a good point made by someone here who has been to a Foie Gras farm and said the ducks are treated better than commercial chickens. Obviously this is a very low bar, but that being said, you don’t hear the outcry from the hypocritical masses about THAT, do you?

Gary, will you PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE give some more shout outs to Foie Gras and tell people on the show to write their city councellors in Philly and Chicago. You could even find out hte addresses for them (if you have time and care enough) Land of the free? What a joke! Cuban cigars: illegal. Foie Gras: Illegal. Young cheese from unpasteurised milk: illegal. Buying wine from Wine Library if you live in Michigan: illegal. Give me a f%*king break.

MetalDave: Have to agree. I live a a Nazi state also (Massachusetts). Can’t buy anything her! The legislators changed the wine shipping laws but made the application process so difficult for producers/shippers of wine that they don’t bother! Only in-state wineries can ship in and out….what a scam! And to top that my taxes are 30% higher than anywhere else! (Except NY).

Cheers.

Eastern America’s native grape is Norton. Yep, Norton. Ask Thomas Jefferson and the wineries in Virginia.

QOTD: Howell Mountain Old Vines. A selection of the best grapes from the Beatty Ranch and Black Sears vineyards (which you can also get as single-vineyard bottlings).

I don’t agree that foie gras is an acquired taste. In my experience, people who don’t like it at first dislike it because it’s just too fatty. The flavor of foie gras is not really super strong or anything similar to hating broccoli. Most people love it on their first try, and never stop loving it.

And for those who avoid because it’s cruel, better stop drinking milk and eating any dairy.

We may have to put up with the SAQ in Quebec and their wine Nazi ways but thankfully, the foie gras is rich and plentiful.

QotD: Sebastiani Zinfandel 2005. I have only had a few zins so my only comparison is a couple cheap mass market ones. Will seek out the Ravenswood though.

I was once in a restaurant in Tax-achussets and was told they weren’t allowed to serve me my steak any less done than medium-well. What the hell is that?

Great episode!

Being a winemaker in Denver that likes to make Zinfandel and in a state where Zinfandel does not grow well, (growing season to short), I have it trucked in from a 53 year old vineyard in Lodi. I’m having my official release party at the winery this Saturday for my 2006 Zin (Free Event). Any Vayniacs in Denver bring your wristbands, taste my Zin and we’ll take a snapshot together and send to Gary!

Salute!