The name on this wine is a new one, but the winemaker is not new to wine.  Mark Gendron has been producing wine for a good 20 years and founded JanKris winery back in 1990.  He recently sold JanKris and is working on some new winemaking ventures, namely JK Estates and Wildfire Cellars.  Stray Dog Zinfandel is produced and bottled under the JK Estates label.

The fruit in Stray Dog Zinfandel comes from Paso Robles, the same area where Gendron produced wines with JanKris.  A simple, but memorable label introduces you to this Zinfandel.

It’s a tight nose on this wine, but what’s there is interesting.  The earthy side of the aroma spectrum seems to dominate over the fruity side.  Coffee, walnut and tar aromas lay on top of blackberry and raspberry.  The fruit comes to life much more on the palate with full blackberry and loads of black cherry.  It’s not at all jammy, like many California Zinfandels can be.  The finish is pure bing cherry, perhaps a more exact flavor of bing cherry than I’ve ever tasted in a wine before.  The acids are good and the tannins are adequate.  It’s a good wine.

Wifey gave the wine an “ooooohhh”, which is about as good a complement and commentary you’ll get from her about a wine.

Wine: Stray Dog
Variety: Zinfandel
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol: 14.3%
Rating: 85
Price: $20.00

Find Stray Dog Zinfandel with Snooth