Let’s start with something positive… I love the label on this Zinfandel.  Other than that, it’s just OK.  Not bad, but just OK.  And it is a good deal.

Masked Rider wine is produced by the Panther Rock Wine Company, founded by fourth generation descendants of the Franzia family, which first produced wines in 1896.  Actually, 13 siblings and cousins collectively own the company.  Although they come from the Franzia family, they note in every press release they put out that they have no relation to Franzia boxed wines.

Although the intensity is lacking, it smells like a pretty basic, low-end Zinfandel.  There’s a cola aroma, common to a lot of Zin, which is a pretty good “tell” for this variety.  I also get a bit of smokiness, cherry and walnut.  The palate is raspberry-laden,but slightly off balance.  It’s drinkable, but nothing special.  For the price, it’s not bad.

Wine: Masked Rider Zinfandel
Variety: Zinfandel
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 81
Price: $9.99

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Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

I feel guilty right now.  Guilty that I haven’t shared this review with you sooner.  You see, I take my tasting notes in sessions where I taste several wines in a category in one sitting.  Then later I’ll do some background research on the wines and write up the review along with my tasting notes.  I actually have tasting notes for about 50 wines that I have yet to write about on this site.  But some wines are such a great value that I really shouldn’t wait to post them here.  This is one such wine, and I’m guilty of holding back that tip… until now.

Brazin currently has only one wine available, the Brazin Old Vine Zin.  And since they currently only produce this one wine, if it says Brazin on the bottle, you can be sure you’ve got the right one.

Much of the best Zinfandel comes from the Lodi region, just south of Sacramento, CA.  And Zinfandel from this region tends to be more affordable than those from other renowned Zin regions like Dry Creek Valley.  There are seven sub-appellations within Lodi and most of the grapes in Brazin are sourced from the Mokelumne River AVA, known for well draining, sandy soils.  The vineyard is irrigated twice a year, using a flood technique.  The intent of this technique is to give the vines enough water to survive, but to stress them.  By stressing the vines, it produces smaller fruit with more intense flavors.  And Brazin is brimming with intensity.

A little bit of nutmeg and a fragrant floral aroma make this a really interesting Zinfandel.  It also has aromas of plum, raspberry and tomato leaf, giving Brazin outstanding complexity.  The flavors are blackberry jam, dark chocolate and a good kick of spice.  There’s no lack of concentration in those flavors.  One thing that impressed me about this wine is the fact that this Zin is a whopping 15% abv, but it doesn’t have the heat found in many other high-alcohol wines.  To me, that’s a result of the winemaker’s skill.

I was able to find this wine for $15.00, which to me is an outstanding value for a wine of this quality.

Wine: Brazin Old Vine Zin
Variety: Zinfandel
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol: 15%
Rating: 88
Price: $15.00

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I first discovered Four Vines Zinfandels a couple years ago at the Cincinnati International Wine Festival, where they instantly became my favorite wines out of hundreds at that event.  And yet I had never heard of them before that event.

In my conversation with one of the reps, she shared that Four Vines refuses to send their wines for review by the major publications.  Their rationale was that when you start doing that, you run the risk of producing wine for the tastes of the reviewers rather than producing what the winemaker thinks is best.  I know that since then, they have been reviewed by some wine publications, such as Wine Spectator, but I don’t know if they sent samples to them or if the folks at ‘Spectator heard so many good things that they sought out a bottle for themselves.  I will say that Four Vines did not send me a sample… I ponied up to dough to add this to my tasting lineup due to past good experience with the brand… and this tasting didn’t disappoint me.

Four Vines was founded by Christian Tietje, who started the winery with an obsession on Old Vine Zinfandel.  Although they do produce a few other varieties these days, they are best known for their Zinfandel.  They produce a good half dozen different Zinfandels, of which the “Old Vine Cuvee” is the most affordable.  Most of the others wouldn’t be considered “cheap” by our standards… but I assure you, they are really good.

Red raspberry, blackberry, clove and a wisp of vanilla give a nice bouquet to the Old Vine Cuvee Zinfandel.  Although, I’d like a little more intensity to those aromas.  Red fruits are the first thing to jump out on the palate, like raspberry and strawberry.  A nice, ripe plum flavor comes in after that along with some spicy black pepper, followed by vanilla on the finish.  The acidity is nearly perfect, making the flavors bright and lively.  It also has a rather velvety mouth feel, which is nice.

For the price, this Zinfandel can’t be beat.

Wine: Four Vines – Old Vine Cuvee
Variety: Zinfandel
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol: 14.6%
Rating: 87
Price: $14.00

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Over the past couple years I’ve become a full-fledged fan of X Winery.  They are consistently putting out some tasty wine at reasonable prices.  I won’t say their prices are ultra-cheap, but they are reasonable and the quality-to-price ratio tends to be excellent with X Winery.  This Zinfandel gives me another reason to love them.

And while I admit that I’m an X Winery fan, I should also make clear that I tasted this wine blind… so my affinity to the brand did not factor into my tasting notes.  The vast majority of the reviews here are tasted blind.  Every now and then we get a sample of a unique variety and can’t really taste it blind without knowing what it is, but most are blind.

The production of this wine only resulted in 224 cases of wine too.  So if you try this one, you’ll be tasting something that is somewhat unique, as 224 cases is a relatively small production volume.  So it’s affordable, it’s small production… oh, and it’s made from organically grown grapes.  Yep… it’s a California Certified Organically Farmed (CCOF) wine, it’s awesome and it’s only 20 bucks!

The aromas from this Zinfandel remind me of a coffee drink I used to get which consisted of Pepsi, espresso and caramel syrup.  I’m getting those same aromas from this wine: cola, coffee and caramel, but wait there’s more.  I’m also getting some black cherry, cedar and a touch of smoke.  On the palate it’s filled with juicy raspberry and strawberry fruit, as well as some some white pepper and nutmeg to make it spicy.  The mouth feel is so smooth, it’s almost velvety.  This is an outstanding Zinfandel—90 points worth of outstanding!

Wine: X Winery Nova Vineyard Zinfandel
Variety: Zinfandel
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 90
Price: $19.99

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

Ottimino is a vineyard that produces nothing but Zinfandel.  Most of their wines are in the $30+ price range, with the exception of their Zinfinity brand.  The vineyard for Zinfinity is right next to the Rancho Bello vineyard in the Russian River Valley, but they are quite different.

The vines for Zinfinity are the youngest in the Ottimino family and originate from vines in Dry Creek Valley.  And while the vines in Rancho Bello run east/west, those used in Zinfinity run north/south.

This is a very approachable Zinfandel, and interesting too.  It has good intensity and complexity in its aromas, with vanilla, coffee, blackberry, plum, dark chocolate and touch of smokiness.  There’s a lot going on with this wine.  In the mouth it’s silky smooth and full of blackberry and raspberry flavors, as well as a bit spicy with some black pepper.  Dark chocolate flavors and more black pepper come in on the finish.

Wine: Ottimino Zinfinity
Variety: Zinfandel
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol: 13.9%
Rating: 86
Price: $17.00

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Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

If you’re into movies, I’m sure you know the name Francis Ford Coppola as a great director.  And if you’re into wine, you’ve probably noticed that his name is on some wines too.   In fact, he’s behind more wine than you may realize.  In addition to the wine that bears his name, he is also behind Rubicon, a somewhat high-end wine brand.  I say “somewhat” high end because although Rubicon may be really high end for some readers of this blog, there are some much more pricey wines out there.

Francis Ford Coppola’s involvement in wine began over 30 years ago, when he and wife Eleanor found a weekend property in Napa Valley where they could make some homemade wine.  The property they found was the Niebaum Mansion on the Inglenook Estate, and suddenly their desire to make a little wine grew into a mission to restore that property and blossomed into a major wine-making effort.

Coppola now has several lines of wine, many with the Coppola name.  One such brand is Director’s Cut.  I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical before tasting this wine, but after tasting it in a blind Zinfandel lineup I’m a fan.

There’s a bit of a dusty/earthy aroma from this wine, along with dark berries, strawberry and cola.  Although it’s slightly spicy, there something really cool and soothing about the aromas.  The flavor brings raspberry, blackberry, dark chocolate and a good dose of spices.  It’s really lively on the palate.  The acidity is killer, making this wine great for fatty foods.  I would have liked the tannins to be a touch heavier.  But overall, it’s a really good, spicy Zinfandel.  Although it’s labeled as Zinfandel, there is 7% Petite Sirah in this wine, which probably adds to the depth in this one.

I found this wine for $13.99, which is an outstanding value for a Zinfandel that’s this tasty.  In addition to being a good wine, I should point out that it comes from the Dry Creek Valley and I can’t think of many other wines from this area that I’ve found for under $20.

Wine: Francis Ford Coppola Director’s Cut
Variety: Zinfandel
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 87
Price: $13.99

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This past week, issue #10 of Mutineer Magazine hit the shelves, including my Wine Steals column which is all about Zinfandel in this issue.  There’s one Zinfandel I didn’t include in the article, despite the fact that it may be the one wine more people ask me about than any other and that one is 7 Deadly Zins.

Michael David Winery is the producer of 7 Deadly Zins and they are one company that impresses me with their wines over and over.  Their Earthquake Zinfandel is outstanding, although a bit more expensive than 7 Deadly Zins, and their 6th Sense Syrah was one of my favorites in the recent judging for the Cincinnati International Wine Festival.  While I do like 7 Deadly Zins, the 2007 vintage didn’t blow me away as much as previous vintages.

The alcohol fumes are pretty powerful from this wine, which is a little bit of a turn off.  When you get past the fumes, you find aromas of raspberry, black cherry and a little bit of clove.  It doesn’t have quite the intensity or depth I want, but it’s still good.  On the palate the tannins are firm.  The flavors are cherry, raspberry and black pepper, but the concentration of those flavors is only moderate. Some oak flavor lingers on the finish.

It’s a good wine for the price, as most of my favorite Zinfandels are $15-20 but I found this one for an easy $12.

Wine: 7 Deadly Zins
Variety: Zinfandel
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 84
Price: $11.98

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