One way that you can save some scratch on your wine is to buy wine produced in regions other than the really popular ones.  When most people think of California wine, they think of Napa or Sonoma.  But in most cases you’ll end up paying a premium for wines from those regions.  Montevina Winery is in Amador County, California—a perfectly good wine growing region, but a little less know than some other parts of California.  Amador County lies in the Sierra Nevada, about 45 miles southeast of Sacramento.

Montevina has been producing wine since 1970 and is best known for their Zinfandel, but they also produce some other varieties.  Some of the varieties they grow are rather unique for California, like Barbera—a wine I don’t see much of other than that from Piedmont, Italy.  I haven’t tasted the Montevina Barbera yet, but I hope to do so one day.  However, we’re not here to talk about Barbera today, we’re here for Zinfandel!

I like the nose on this wine, although it skews toward the “high notes” on my scent/sound scale.  For the record, I often think of aromas in wine like notes and tones in music.  It has a sharp clove aroma, which I find interesting.  I also find black pepper, dusty blackberry and new leather.  There is a ton of fresh fruit flavor on the palate, mostly ripe plum but also some blackberry.  This is only a wine for fans of a “fruit forward” style Zinfandel.  It’s so fruity, it’s almost sweet.  The finish brings a hint of strawberry, followed by oak.  I wouldn’t call this an elegant wine, but I still enjoyed sipping on it.

Wine: Montevina Zinfandel
Variety: Zinfandel
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 84
Price: $11.99

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.