X Winery Nova Vineyard Zinfandel

The next wine I want you to consider to spice up your Valentine’s Day is a Zinfandel.  Spicy is a word often used to describe Zinfandel—as well as some foods that go well with it.  Although it can be a spicy wine at times, it’s really a fairly dynamic wine that can be produced in a number of styles.  I find many California Zinfandels to be too jammy and overbearing for my personal tastes, but this particular Zinfandel was quite approachable.

The producer of this wine, X Winery, is a fairly young company, just established in 2000.  I don’t know the history of how the company was named, but to me it seems like an appropriate name as everything I’ve seen from them gives me the impression that they are producing wine for Generation X.  They seem to be fairly progressive in their approach to producing and marketing their wine.  In addition to a focus on environmental sustainability and experimental winemaking, they use innovative technologies like Slide on their website.  And you can connect with them on Twitter.  I’m always pleased to see wine producers open their doors online and really communicate with (not just at) consumers.

This Zinfandel comes from Lake County, California—slightly north of the better known Napa and Sonoma regions.  It’s a little bit lighter in opacity than many Zins you may have had in the past, but it’s still loaded with great aromas and flavors.

This is a fairly fruity Zinfandel, but not sweet or jammy.  On the nose there is a good bit of cedar aroma, with raspberry, strawberry, tar and pepper to bring an interesting complexity.  The palate is fruity and spicy.  There’s more strawberry flavor here than I think I’ve ever found in a Zinfandel.  It’s really quite delightful.  There is also plenty of raspberry and a peppery finish.  It’s much more approachable than some of the jammy California Zinfandels I’ve had in the past.

This isn’t a wine that you’re going to find in every store, as only 327 cases were produced.  But if you do find it, I’d suggest giving it a try.

Wine: X Winery
Variety: Zinfandel
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 87
Price: $19.99

Find X Winery Zinfandel with Snooth