BIG, BOLD ZIN! That’s how Rancho Zabaco characterizes their wines. And we checked out two of the Zinfandels they produce. There’s a good chance you’ll see at least one of these Zins on the Zinfandel shelf at your local wine shop as Rancho Zabaco doesn’t do much other than Zinfandel.
They have a couple other varietals, but [...]
Cardinal Zin is the epitome of a Zin with a fun name and a fun label. In fact it’s so much fun that in 2001 it was banned in Ohio!
OK, it wasn’t banned for being too much fun specifically. It was banned because Ohio’s state code on wine labeling forbids “advertisement or representation portraying pictures of… [...]
Twist the top off this and celebrate a cork-free bargain. Twisted Wines are a brand of wine that jumps out at you on the wine shelves. The marketing guy in me loves this brand. They have good packaging with a fun attitude, eye-popping shelf talkers and a well-designed website. And the brand is not all [...]
The Sierra Foothills designation of Renwood Zinfandel, also know as “red label,” is the entry-level Zinfandel from Renwood Winery. They have some more pricey Zins available, but they are mostly out of the range for Cheap Wine Ratings. The red label wines from Renwood are produced from their younger vines and are much simpler than [...]
The next series we’re doing on Cheap Wine Ratings is California Zinfandel. At times Zinfandel is one of my favorite varietals but sometimes it ends up just way too sweet and jammy. Zinfandel is really a chameleon though, as its wine can have a variety of characteristics from jar-full-of-jam fruit, to spicy, to tannic, and [...]
If you’re a regular reader you may recall my review of McManis Petite Sirah a couple months ago. I was so thrilled with it that I had to try another varietal from them and I wasn’t disappointed.
Since I already gave a little background on McManis in my previous post, I’ll keep this post brief and won’t [...]
Something that some wine reviewers and bloggers debate is whether they should write up the bad reviews or not. As far as I’m concerned, if a producer puts a bottle on the shelf and wants my dime for it, well… it’s fair game. I also consider it a responsibility to frugal wine drinkers everywhere to [...]
“Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine”
- St. Thomas Aquinas
Aquinas wines are named after St. Thomas Aquinas, but not because of that quote. Producer Don Sebastiani & Sons chose the Aquinas name as a metaphor. St. Thomas Aquinas united science and religion at a time when the two were at odds. Similarly, [...]
Let’s say you typically spend under $10 per bottle and you’re in the store and come across Hess Select Cabernet Sauvignon. It has this bold red label with a very regal looking lion figure. It’s a very impressive label and looks like it must be a good bottle of wine. It says “Select” on the bottle. That [...]
Wine Blogging Wednesday #40
Once again, it’s my favorite day of the month: Wine Blogging Wednesday. For those who don’t know, Wine Blogging Wednesday is a day that happens once a month when wine bloggers from around the world all write about a common theme. The theme this month is Petite Sirah, one of my favorite types of [...]
