A Zinfandel quite unlike a lot of the zinfandels you are used to drinking. And we all know that Zinfandel kind of stopped being Zinfandel about 20 years ago and became this ridiculously ripe flatulent bullshit sponsored by Paso Robles and many of our beloved Sonoma and Dry Creek Valley offerings followed suit. I don’t want to be too hard on zinfidel but in the late ’80s and ’90s I was the world’s biggest proponent of Zinfandel, but then things changed. In the words of Bob Dylan: I used to care, but things have changed. I still care about Zinfandel, it’s just, well, you know… So here we have a Zinfandel made quite astonishingly in the old school pattern, though this is a Paso Robles producer which will fail to get the plaudits deserved from modern zinfadel drinkers. Jammy and wonderful, ripe without cloying, a moderate ABV, and astringency and structure playing down on centuries-old Italian field-blend nuances dominated by careful presentation instead of slutty tourist-driven bigger-is-better stupidity. This brings things full circle.

2017 @fieldrecordingswine #zinfandel #arroyograndevalley #slocoastava 14.9