High Zinfandelity
Okay, sorry to punish you with yet another Zinfandel pun, but it’s not often that I get to open three wines on the same night—at the same time… so … you know … forgive my zins.
Tonight we played a little game I call “Wine Taster Shout-out” where everybody at the table takes a mouthful of the same wine, swishes it around, swallows, and then has to quickly state the first flavor, or flavors, that come to mind. The three Zinfandels that we popped were the 2005 St. Amant (Old Vine), the 2005 Martin (Old Vine), and the 2006 MoniClaire. The participants were my mom, dad, wife and best friend.
And without further ado, here are our shout-outs:
ST. AMANT
“Vanilla!”
“Black cherry.”
“Caramel!”
“Chocolate!”
“Tobacco.”
“Grape Jolly Rancher.”
“A giant pomegranate seed, squeezed into my mouth.”
MARTIN
“Boom!” (John Madden impersonation)
“Immediately bigger-tasting.”
“Prunes or raisins?”
“Dried fruit.”
“Complex.”
“Spicier finish.”
“Peppery.”
“Port-like. Would that be portly?”
MONICLAIRE
“Anis. You know, like Anisette!”
“Berries.”
“Blackberries.”
“Not as spicy as the last one.”
“Exotic!”
“Black liquorish.”
“Cocoa.”
“More, please!”
OUTCOME:
All the wines were amazing, but the crowd favorite ended up being the St. Amant, which seemed to have a juicier flavor and a smoother finish. I personally appreciated the complexities of the Martin and MoniClaire because they seemed to give a wider range of flavors—the MoniClaire actually caused everyone to pause for several introspective minutes of before coming up with their descriptors. If a wine makes you soul-search, it’s definitely doing its job!