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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I have several friends that live in California and knowing my penchant for wine, they are always telling me I should come visit. When I casually mention to them that I’d like to go and visit the Lodi Appellation, their eyes kind of cloud over and drift away, their voice becomes very suspicious and I can tell that their dreams of visiting Napa or Sonoma with friends has just been dashed.

That’s because even living in California, they aren’t aware that the Lodi Appellation has some of the most exceptional wines being made in the state. The climate in the Lodi region very much resembles the Mediterranean, something that was not lost of the early growers of this area. Cooling breezes from the San Francisco Bay area in the afternoon and evening temper what can be a warm dry summer. A cool and usually moderate winter helps to not stress the plants during the off season.

It was discovered early on that the Zinfandel grapes thrives in this environment. It was one of the first grapes planted commercially in the state of California, having been first planted in the Lodi region in the mid 1800’s by Agoston Haraszthy (considered the grandfather of California viticulture). For this reason, vintners in this region have access to some of the oldest grape vines in America with some being well over 80 years old. This combination of climate and old vines often produces grapes with very ripe and forward fruit flavors and markedly soft tannins.

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I've been trying to taste something other than Zins because they seem to be the only wines I'm tasting these days. So imagine my surprise when Ms Cocktail comes back from a baby shower last weekend and exclaimed, "They had the most wonderful wine there, you just have to taste it!" I figured that since it was a baby shower that a) a mojority of the women wouldn't be drinking, and b) if they were drinking it was hot out so it would most likely be some chilled Chardonnay or Reisling. Wellthose wines were represented at the gathering however, those were not the wine Ms Cocktail was referring to.

Ms Cocktail was refering to the 2007 Twisted Wine Cellars Old Vine Zinfandel. I discovered this when we were once again at our trusty Wegmans. Ms Cocktail points out a magnum (equivalent to two standard bottles of wine doncha know) on the shelf and identified it as the wine that she had at the baby shower, I should taste it, and didn't the mother-to-be just look wonderful? I had all kinds of antenna pop out at that statement for various reason, not the least of which was a magnum of Zinfandel for under $12. Of course that meant that I was guilty of ignoring my own advice (Let's talk about the wine) and of course, that would be the time that I should have listened to myself. This just goes to prove that we are conditioned to equate quality with price and that we need to fight against this all the time.

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 Imagine my surprise when I was cruising through the local Wegmans (yes, we have been blessed with a Wegmans within 20 minutes of our house) wine shop and I happen to spy this beauty. Now those of you that know me also know that Ms Cocktail and I share an affinity for the Zinfandel wines specific to the Lodi region of California. They tend to be very fruit forward, at times sweet and jammy, other times they can be rich and complex. This turned out to be an "other" but I'm getting ahead of myself.

This is a 2007 Zinfandel From Deep Purple Wines in Santa Rosa, California made with juice sourced from the Lodi region. Typically, I could care less about the label because it really doesn't tell you anything about the wine inside the bottle. This bottle is no different, I just love the artwork becasue I'm a quasi-hippie-throwback.

Once you pour the wine, you notice a nice deep garnet color. It's not so dark and dense that you can't see through the edges but it gets much more solid near the center of the glass. A rich, earth smell of moss undercut with blackberry rises out of the glass to meet your nose.

Upon first taste, you realize that you've just been lied to. Your nose says one thing but on the palate it is something not quite what you're expecting. There is no assault of tannins like some dry reds but the taste itself is lighter than expected. Predominently blackberry in taste, it isn't overly full and cloying like some fruity wines can be. Even though it is fruity, it is not sweet and the taste doesn't linger on the palate. It is really nicely balanced between fruit and dry.

The best part about this wine may very well be the price. It should be able to be found at most retailers for under $13 which in my mind, makes this an appropriately priced wine.