The world of wine can seem terribly convoluted sometimes and not just the wines themselves. Sometimes it is the businesses and owners that can become a touch confusing. I think I’ve mentioned before that Ms Cocktail and I very much enjoy the wines of the Lodi region in California. They tend to be big and bold, very much fruit driven, yet they maintain a complexity that has them being more than just “alcoholic fruit bombs” as I have heard some wines referred to.

So it was with much delight that I found a Lodi Old Vines Zinfandel that I hadn’t heard of before. It didn’t hurt that the caricature on the label was straight out of a Monty Python skit either. Plungerhead is the name of the wine and other than the information in the title of this blog post there is no other information about the wine on the front label. It is when you turn to look at the back label that you first find out that this wine is produced by The Other Guys.

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There is something about the Lodi Appellation in California that produces amazingly big red wines with a lot of fruit. Perhaps it is the long, hot, dry summers they get out there. Or perhaps  it is because of the Lodi Rules, a set of sustainable winegrowing standards that requires growers to use a wide range of sustainable practices that result in continual improvement of all aspects of their farming practices. Or maybe it is just that the wine makers out in Lodi realize a good thing when they see one.

Regardless of the underlying reasons, Lodi is producing some of the most lush red wines on the market right now. One shining example is the 181 Merlot. The names stands for the 181 Merlot clone which can trace it’s history back to the Pomerol region of Bordeaux, France. It is at Clay Station Vineyard, nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada range, where this grape is being grown.

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Today finds us back in Spain and specifically in the DO Bierzo which is located in the worthwest of Spain in the province of León. It is located in a mountainous region but the area contains numerous small valleys and a   microclimate that is great for viticulture. It is from this region that Vinos de Arganza produces the Flavium Bierzo Crianza. To break down this name, Flavium is the wine label, Bierzo is the Region and Cianza is the specific style of wine which is governed by specific rules from the DO. In this case, a Crianza must be aged at least 6 months in oak and 18 months in the bottle.

For those of you wondering, the varietal of grape this wine is made from is Mencia. At one time it was thought that Mencia was an ancestor of the Cabernet Franc grape. Alas, DNA testing shows that it is not related to Cab Franc at all and that it is actually identical to an obscure Portuguese varietal. Or should I say that the Portuguese varietal is identical to it. In either case, this wine is made from 100% Mencia grapes.

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I love to go to wineries. It is a really enjoyable pastime for Ms Cocktail and myself. Especially here in Northern Virginia where the daily pace of life can be hectic on the best of days. Trips to the wineries are like little mini vacations where we can go out to the countryside and escape the insanity that is the greater metropolitan Washington D.C. area.

The other nice thing about the wineries are the little gems that you come across every once in a while. Personally, I never would have given the 2006 Tannat from Chrysalis Vineyards a second look had I come across the bottle in a store. Having visited previously, I was well aware that they were a young vineyard and that they were still getting their legs underneath them. They had a couple of fun selections, you know, easy drinking on the back deck on a hot afternoon kind of wines, but nothing serious. That all changed during my last visit there. That is when I tasted this Tannat.

First, let me say that I was totally unaware of the Tannat grape. It is a grape from Southwestern France, principally the Madiran AOC that has also found an enthusiastic audience in Uruguay. There are small plantings in California and Virginia in the United States, but it is not a very widely grown or used grape here yet. This is yet another reason that I wouldn't have thought twice about this wine, I just didn't know anything about it. I'm just as big a creature of habit as anyone else and I tend towards things I already know. I'd be willing to bet that you're the same way, gravitating towards the known and safe choice versus the unknown and potentially bad.

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