I have had a few wines from Lodi recently and am becoming a big fan.  Zinfandel is one of their signature grapes so this wine is exciting to me.

As I look at it in the glass it’s a nice shade of opaque purple.  I can also smell the waft of fruit from a foot away, always a good sign.  The nose is very fruit forward with tons of black berry, dark plums and a cinnamon twist.  The palate is misleading- when you smell that much fruit you automatically expect a wine with a touch of sweetness, which I do not look forward to in reds.  This wine is not at all sweet- it is rich, concentrated with black fruit and very tasty.  There is a core of minerality on the mid palate that mixes it up with some oaky char and anise.  I usually expect pepper with this varietal but I’m not getting any.  The wine has a nice, balanced mouthfeel with very lithe tannins and supporting acidity.  The finish is a fruit salad of black cherry, blackcurrants and blackberry jam.  It is mouth filling and satisfying if you like a ton of flavor.  I’m enjoying it with some Spaghetti Arrabiata with garlic bread.  Kudos to the winemaker for this 90 point effort that I paid $13 for.  It gets 5 stars and will drink nicely till 2027.  Salut….