Bocce Zinfandel 2004

Price: $9
Maker: Bocce Cellars, Graton, California
Varietal: Zinfandel
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, artificial cork
Alcohol: 13.9%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Bocce Zinfandel 2004 features a colorful, old fashioned label that is reminscent of the winery’s history and the Cesar Mondavi’s love of playing bocce. The wine has a pleasant nose with lots of blackberry, licorice, and spice. Its flavor is fruit-forward with cherries and blueberries, and a somewhat tannic finish. With time, the flavor deepened and the finish became longer and more pleasant. This Zin doesn’t excel in any single area - it’s not big, it’s not complex, and the finish is comparatively short - but the overall effect is very, very nice. Bocce Zinfandel is likable and a fine pairing with Marinara-based dishes.

Valley of the Moon Zinfandel 2004

Price: $15
Maker: Valley of the Moon Winery, Glen Ellen, California
Varietal: Zinfandel
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 15%
Our Rating: 9 out of 10

Valley of the Moon Zinfandel 2004 was a find on a recent trip to a Chicago suburb, where we stumbled across a WineStyles outlet. We’re glad we stopped, because this Zin has a lot going for it. The nose is nice but not overwhelming - berry aromas mixed with oak and vanilla. The wine really explodes on the palate, though. Lush, jammy raspberries and strawberries give this Zin its fruit-forward character, while soft tannins and a bit of oak provide a lengthy finish.

According to the Valley of the Moon website, the winery has been in operation since 1863. At one point in the winery’s history, it was owned by Senator George Hurst, father of William Randolph Hearst. This is a wine that the publishing magnate himself might have been happy to serve his celebrity guests at San Simeon.

Gallo Sonoma Reserve Zinfandel 2004

Price: $10
Maker: Ernest & Julio Gallo, Modesto, California
Varietal: Zinfandel
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13.9%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Gallo Sonoma Reserve Zinfandel 2004 is the second of Gallo’s Sonoma Reserve series we’ve tried lately, and we liked this one just about as much as Gallo Sonoma Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2004. This Zinfandel has a likable nose of raspberries, spice, and licorice. Its flavor is rounded and fruity, with raspberries and cherries leading the charge, and oak and tannins providing complexity and a fairly long finish. Bold, fruity Zinfandels are one of our favorite categories, and this Gallo wine does a reasonable job of representing that varietal.

Ravenswood Sonoma County Old Vine Zinfandel 2004

Price: $12
Maker: Ravenswood, Sonoma, California
Varietal: Zinfandel
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 14.5%
Our Rating: 9 out of 10

Ravenswood Sonoma County Old Vine Zinfandel 2004 was a nice find. It is a full-bodied Zin, leading with intense cherry, raspberry, and plum fruits, then offering chocolate and smoke notes, and moving into a big finish with black pepper, oak, and modest tannins. This is a bold, palate-filling wine, and it would have been a great match with the flavorful and well-seasoned smoked sirloin I had the night before (if only the restaurant had offered it!).

If we have any complaint at all about this yummy wine, it’s that the Ravenswood County Series wines come in very similar-looking bottles. The only distinction is the county of origin, with a few also bearing the “old vine” distinction. This may be a strong branding statement, but the occasional wine drinker or random shelf-browser might well be confused or have difficulty remembering which variation he tried and liked. Stores, too, may hesitate to devote a lot of shelf space to a half-dozen similar-looking Zinfandels. Ravenswood has a page devoted to this wine where you can also sign up for their Zinsider newsletter from their Department of Zinformation. These guys really like their Zins…

Baron Herzog Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel 2004

Price: $12
Maker: McWilliam�s Hanwood Estate, New South Wales, Australia
Varietal: Zinfandel
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 14.1%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Baron Herzog Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel 2004 is the first kosher wine that we’ve tried, at least knowingly, and we liked it. It has aromas of berries and smoky leather. The wine is medium to full-bodied and nicely structured. Flavor notes include cherries, dark berries, chocolate, and toasted oak.

The Baron Herzog website says, “These old-vine Zinfandel grapes are taken entirely from gnarly, head-trained vines in the Watts Vineyard. The wine is aged in 30% new and 70% one year old American barrels for six months.”

This isn’t the biggest and boldest Zin we’ve tasted, but it has a lot to offer with its pleasantly complex flavors.

Infinitus Cabernet Sauvignon - Tempranillo

Price: $7
Maker: Cosecheros y Criadores, SA, Spain
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon - Tempranillo blend
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, artificial cork
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8 out of 10

Infinitus Cabernet Sauvignon - Tempranillo 2004 is easy to spot on the shelf with its black and white label - “Infinitus” appears in two-inch high letters. Tempranillo is hardly a common varietal here in the States, but this wine might make help break the ice. The aroma is mild berry, but the flavor is a bold mix of blackberry, spice, and oak. In the European tradition, this isn’t an overly fruity wine but has plenty of flavor. On first pour, the wine seemed a bit harsh, but some breathing seemed to mellow it out nicely.

Santana Tempranillo

Price: $9
Maker: Bodegas Victorianas, Spain
Varietal: Tempranillo
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

We tried Santana Tempranillo 2004 as part of Wine Blogging Wednesday #35. For WBW #35, Passionate Spain, our assignment was to try a wine from Spain, preferably under $10.

We found Santana Tempranillo had a very nice licorice and raspberry nose with some spicy and woody notes. On the palate, this wine was light-to-medium-bodied. It wasn’t overly fruity, with dark berries yielding to herbal, woody flavors; mild pepper and prominent tannins dominated the slightly acidic finish. This wine was a bit less fruity than we usually find in wines in this price range, but was surprisingly accessible and well balanced. This wine grew on us, and we found it to be more sophisticated than one might expect for a $5 wine. All in all, Santana Tempranillo is a great value, particularly if you are looking for a red that’s a bit less fruity than similarly priced California or Aussie wines.

Funky Llama Tempranillo

Price: $9
Maker: Funky Llama
Variety: Tempranillo
Packaging: Bottle, artificial cork
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Tempranillo tends to be a lighter wine than many other reds, but Funky Llama Tempranillo 2004 is no wimpy wine. It has a prominent raspberry jam nose. On the palate, it’s juicy but well balanced, with red berries and cherries up front and a lengthy finish that’s a bit spicy and tart. This Tempranillo has a lot of character, and will stand up to heavier fare than most examples of this varietal.

Makulu Shiraz 2005

Price: $6
Maker: South Africa, Imported by Prestige Wine Group
Varietal: Shiraz
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, artificial cork
Alcohol: 14%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Makulu Shiraz 2005 is a bold and fruity red wine. There’s a mild berry aroma, but it’s on the palate that this wine gets big. In that respect, this Shiraz is like its sibling, Makulu Iswithi Pinotage 2005. It’s like the Pinotage, too, in its intense fruity character. The wine leads with blackberry and raspberry notes, then transitions into a finish with a bit of oak and a mild tannic bite. At 14% alcohol, this is a heftier Shiraz than most. Overall, we like this wine. We’d prefer more spice for a Shiraz, but this wine is very nice on its own merits. This wine is fruity, but doesn’t have the sweetness of the Pinotage.

Lizard Flat Shiraz 2004

Price: $9
Maker: Heath Wines, Bowden, South Australia
Variety: Shiraz
Packaging: 1-liter Tetra Pak
Alcohol: 14%
Our Rating: 8 out of 10

Lizard Flat Shiraz 2004 comes in one of those 1-liter Tetra Pak that seems way too small to hold a third more wine than a 750 ml bottle. It has the typical screw cap closure, making it easy to open and reseal. This Shiraz has some licorice and vanilla in the nose, and is very juicy on the palate. Cherries and blackberries are the main notes, with some oak and rather light pepper. The wine isn’t too complex, but the finish lasts suprisingly well. At 14%, this Shiraz is at the high end of alcohol content for a Shiraz. Overall, Lizard Flat Shiraz is an accessible, fun wine that is well suited to its informal and convenient packaging. It’s a nice choice for picnics, outdoor entertaining, and home consumption.

Banrock Station Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

Price: $6
Maker: Banrock Station Wines, Kingston on Murray, South Australia
Varietal: Shiraz (80%), Cabernet Sauvignon (20%)
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8 out of 10

We’ve seen Banrock Station Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2004, an Aussie bargain wine, on the shelf numerous times, and finally brought a bottle home. This wine is mostly Shiraz (80%) with some Cabernet Sauvingon blended in. It has a fairly potent aroma of berries, cedar, spice. On the palate, it’s very juicy - we found it to be medium bodied with flavors of ripe cherries, oak, and nicely balanced tannins. It’s not particularly spicy for a Shiraz. We recommend letting this wine breathe for quite a while, as that brought out the fruit and made the wine more pleasant overall.

Fuente del Ritmo Tempranillo

Price: $9
Maker: Bodegas Centro Espanolas, SA, Tomelloso, Spain
Varietal: Tempranillo
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13%
Our Rating: 8 out of 10

Fuente del Ritmo Tempranillo 2004 has a fairly dark garnet color and an aroma of cherries, vanilla, and chalk. The flavor is fruity, with black cherry and currant notes, leading into a finish with lots of tannins and a bit of pepper. This wine should definitely be allowed to breathe - out of the bottle, even with a bit of air, the wine was somewhat harsh. Time and breathing mellowed it out into a smoother and more balanced structure. The fruit notes strengthened, while the acidity was muted. After breathing, the wine remains quite dry, but is far more drinkable.

Ravenswood Vintners Blend South Eastern Australia Shiraz 2004

Price: $9
Maker: Ravenswood Vintners, Reynella, SA, Australia
Varietal: Shiraz
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13.9%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Ravenswood Vintners Blend South Eastern Australia Shiraz 2004 is, as the name suggests, an Aussie import under the Ravenswood label best known for their California Zinfandels. If you are looking for Shiraz, Australia isn’t a bad place to look for it. This one has a nice aroma of leather and spice. It’s got jammy raspberry and black cherry notes, a bit of chocolate, and a light oak finish. All in all, it’s what you might expect from Ravenswood - a big, fruity Shiraz with a sort of Zin sensibility.

Gala Rouge Pinot Noir 2004

Price: $8
Maker: Bon Vivant Vineyards, France
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, artificial cork
Alcohol: 12.5%
Our Rating: 8 out of 10

Gala Rouge Pinot Noir 2004 is packaged attractively with a vintage art poster label, and modestly refers to itself as “vin extraordinaire.” Its nose is quite interesting, delivering licorice and black pepper. On the palate, it’s relatively well structured - it’s not too fruity, with light cherry and plum notes mixing with oak and slightly sharp tannins. Overall, there’s quite a bit of flavor in this Pinot Noir.

Luccio Chianti

Price: $6
Maker: Fratelli Bellini, Rufina, Italy
Varietal: Chianti
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 12.5%
Our Rating: 7 out of 10

Remember when Chianti from Italy came in bottles with little baskets woven around them? And that in the cute packaging, the wine was very dry and quite rough? Luccio Chianti 2004 may make you nostalgic for the basket bottles… it has a pleasant enough ripe berry nose, but the sharp tannins dominate the fruity berry notes that are present. Some breathing helped a bit, but we never reached the point where we found this wine appealing.

Tempranillo Fuente del Ritmo 2004

Price: $9
Maker: Bodegas Centro Espanolas, SA, Tomelloso, Spain
Varietal: Tempranillo
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13%
Our Rating: 8 out of 10

Fuente del Ritmo Tempranillo 2004 has a fairly dark garnet color and an aroma of cherries, vanilla, and chalk. The flavor is fruity, with black cherry and currant notes, leading into a finish with lots of tannins and a bit of pepper. This wine should definitely be allowed to breathe - out of the bottle, even with a bit of air, the wine was somewhat harsh. Time and breathing mellowed it out into a smoother and more balanced structure. The fruit notes strengthened, while the acidity was muted. After breathing, the wine remains quite dry, but is far more drinkable.

Fritz Waßmer 2004

Lovely nose & soft velvety palate. This wine is more Burgundian than a Dijon Mustard.

Concannon Stampmaker’s Syrah 2004

Price: $12
Maker: Concannon Vineyard, Livermore & San Luis Obispo, California
Varietal: Merlot
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 9 out of 10

Concannon Stampmaker’s Syrah 2004 makes a great first impression - the bottle has a raised image of the vineyard gates, the label is foil imprinted and is further graced by an embossed grapevine. Fortunately, this wine isn’t all show. The nose is a powerful and exotic blend of licorice, clove, vanilla, and black pepper, with juicy berry notes in the background. On the palate, this Syrah is full-bodied and well balanced. The fruity blackberry and black cherry notes are well matched with toasty oak, and the finish is a long-lasting blend of spice and mild acidity. We liked this wine quite a lot.

So far, we haven’t gone wrong with a choice from Concannon - we also enjoyed their slightly less expensive Concannon Central Coast Merlot 2003 - although not a typical merlot, that was an interesting and flavorful wine. This wine is part of their “Limited Release” series, which features wines bottled in somewhat smaller quantities. We note that the 2003 vintage of Concannon Stampmaker’s Syrah took a “Best in Class” award at the California State Fair.

Jake’s Fault Shiraz 2004

Price: $8
Maker: Jake’s Fault Winery, Geyserville, California
Varietal: Shiraz
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

We found Jake’s Fault Shiraz 2004 at Trader Joe’s, and we’re glad we did. If you enjoy a spicy Shiraz, then you should seek it out, too. The nose is full of berry, clove, and black pepper. On the palate, this Shiraz starts off with plenty of juicy blackberry and blueberry notes, easing into a peppery finish with moderately prominent tannins. It’s reasonably well balanced, and reasonably complex for an under-$10 Shiraz.

Bloggers have been mostly very positive about Jake’s Fault Shiraz. Just Robb thought, “The taste had hints of blackberry, a bit jam-like with a hint of oak and really easy on the tannin. Very smooth… this wine was excellent in its smoothness. ” VinoForLess.com called it a “treasure find.” LizKitchen raved, “This is a perfect Shiraz for me. It has a good body, lots of fruit, a lovely nose, and is heavy enough to be a substantial wine, but not so much that it�s overwhelming.” Liz likes it as a party wine, and has yet to find a guest who didn’t enjoy it. Alexis and Andrew at UrbanVino scored the wine as 87 and 83, respectively. Visit JakesFault.com to learn more about the wine and winery