Earthquake Zinfandel
Tonight, we’re shaking things up. OK, not really. That was going to be a play on the Earthquake name of this wine, but truthfully, we’re not shaking things up. In fact, we’re continuing the theme of the past few reviews, zinfandel!
You know, seeing zinfandel! with an exclamation point after it looks good. It looks appropriate for this style of wine. Perhaps I should start a movement to always include an exclamation point after zinfandel! Who’s on board?
This particular zinfandel is actually a big brother to the 7 Deadly Zins we reviewed yesterday. It’s another wine from Michael David Winery. It’s another Lodi zinfandel. And just like 7 Deadly Zins, it’s blended with a bit of petite sirah and petite verdot. (And, yes I know I moved on from the whole exclamation point thing. It got old fast.)
As a “big brother,” or “big sister” if you prefer, it’s slightly more expensive than 7 Deadly Zins with a suggested retail price of $26.00 — of course, if you shop around you may find it for less.
This is a really interesting zinfandel. It’s uber-dark-chocolaty on the nose, where there are also aromas of black pepper, black cherry, raisin and leather. In the mouth, it has a lusciously smooth feel with flavors of spicy black cherry, plum and dark chocolate. Despite having a whopping 16% alcohol, it’s still well balanced and the alcohol doesn’t come across as too dominant. It finishes long, with spicy berry flavors and more dark chocolate. This is a fun zinfandel.
While it’s quite different from 7 Deadly Zins, qualitatively I found them to be equals and I gave them both 89 points. The 7 Deadly Zins was more aggressive, spicy and fruit-forward, while the Earthquake is more elegant and chocolaty. The question is, which style are you in the mood for? Or, with a $10 price difference, how much do you want to spend?
Wine: Earthquake
Variety: Zinfandel
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 16%
Rating: 89
Price: $26.00
Find Earthquake Zinfandel with Snooth
Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.
Funny that the night I find you on Twitter, is the night that leads me to this review, which just happens to be of a wine that I had recently at a local wine bar and HAD to run out and buy.
Mind you, I generally stick to the $10-$12 wines, as I am a bargain wine shopper, but this was *so* good, I decided to splurge, even if it meant not buying anything else for a few weeks 🙂
Well, I’m glad you found us and I’m glad you like this wine. Thanks for sharing your experience.
We just opened a 2007 Earthquake Zin. OMG,we just love it. Wifey says we got it at Costco long ago, and it sat in our rack un-noticed until tonight (Christmas eve – 2011). I gotta say, this in one fine tasting wine. We’re not professional tasters by any stretch, but we know what we like – and we LIKE this! I’ve got to find more somewhere.
Hi Mr Tommy. The Earthquake is a great wine! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it. Is anyone else out there loving this wine?
It’s been a long while since I “discovered” a wine like the Earthquake Zinfandel and it has quickly become my family’s favorite. When you consider the price; the taste; there’s no doubt that this wine offers an enormous value.
I’m sorry, but I cannot imagine you comparing 7Sins Zin, or whatever it is called, to Earthquake 2013. it’s like comparing McDonald’s to Peter Lugar’s Steak House. But…we all have out preferences! If you can tell me where I can buy Earthquake Zin. 2013 I would be most grateful! I really would appreciate anyone’s input. Thank you in advance…. Pat McG, Jupiter, FL
Here’s another thumbs up to add to your collection for Earthquake 2013. This weekend my husband and I had dinner at a lovely, high end restaurant and chose Earthquake Zinfandel 2013 (at the much higher restaurant price, of course), and I wanted to go straight to a wine store and buy a case. I’m a big fan of 7 Deadly Zins, so I’m not surprised that this was so good. 2013 was an exceptional year for reds, in our experience. Our server also mentioned the 2007, as “Mr. Tommy” did, so he certainly did know his wines.2013s are getting hard to find around here (Phoenix, AZ area), but I’ll be out trying to track down some more Earthquake this week.
Thanks for the update on the 2013 vintage Cathy.