Extremely Rare Black Blend

The PR materials I received with this wine describe it as “elegant and refined, with sophisticated nuance and delicate balance.” I would use none of those descriptors for this wine. From my perspective this is an in-your-face, aggressive wine that’s bold, wild and jammy.

With one taste of this wine I can tell it is a zinfandel blend. It’s not my preferred style of wine, but it is appropriate for what it is. I know zinfandel blends are quite popular with some wine lovers. It’s quite similar to Apothic Red, which is another zinfandel blend that has been a popular bargain wine for the past few years. And if you’re a fan of Apothic, I’m pretty sure you’ll dig this wine.

This one is produced by Scotto Cellars, a family-owned winery based in Lodi, California. It’s made from a blend of zinfandel, petite sirah and syrah.

The nose is quite aromatic on this wine, displaying bountiful red berry aromas along with plenty of spices, such as chocolate, nutmeg and black pepper. It’s quite nice on the nose. It has that big, slightly-sweet berry flavor of a zinfandel but is different enough to suggest a blend. The palate delivers strawberry, cherry and blackberry flavors along with some dark chocolate notes. At 1.25% residual sugar, this would be considered an “off dry” wine and definitely shows that sweetness. I would have liked a touch more acidity to counterbalance that sweetness. The mouthfeel is good with a touch of tannins offering some silkiness. It finishes with lingering chocolate covered cherry flavors. This wine would be good with some dark chocolate.

Wine: Extremely Rare Black Blend
Variety: Blend of zinfandel, petite sirah and syrah
Vintage: 2014
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 84
Price: $9.99
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.