To celebrate Global #Zinfandel Day Friday Nov. 19, I started in on zin on Thursday with a Four Vines 2007 Old Vine Cuvee which I picked up at The Ventura Wine Company for $11.
I admit, the Old Vine Zin Cuvee wasn’t the wine I wanted from Four Vines. Last year, I’d gone in to buy another bottle of the Biker ($20 at VWC, $28 from the Winery) which Wine Spectator placed in the Top 100 of last year’s releases. The Biker was a fantastic example of zinfandel, Continue reading →
In recognition of Global #Zinfandel Day, here’s a very zin-full post from Wine Blogging Wednesday #60 August 2009. In it I discuss the grand daddy of all zin wineries, Ridge, as well many zins from what I think may be the prime zin growing region anywhere: Dry Creek Valley Sonoma California.
Up next: A post about the wines I enjoyed for Global #Zinfandel Day: a 2003 Glaymond zin from the Barossa Valley AUS, a 2007 Bianchi, Four Vines 2007 Old Vine Cuvee, and even some Old Vine Zin that came from The Big Green Box!
For this month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday #60, host Sonadora prompts us to Zin with BBQ and reminds us that Lenn of Lenndevours started this off five years ago this month. Happy 5th Birthday, WBW! At my house, we love both zin and BBQ, and enjoy both often, so the only question around here was which zinfandel and what shall we BBQ? Both questions were answered simply. For grilling, I found a beautiful, thick porterhouse steak on sale at Vons whic … Read More
I went to the cellar and what did I see?
Bianchi Zen Zinfandel staring at me!
Glaymond Zinfandel also I see:
Barossa Valley 2003!
I was tempted by Rusden 2003
but 2 zins from 2 continents
seemed enough
the hubby’s lamb
on the grill
tender not tough!
Rhyming pomes
just aren’t my thing
but these zinfandels inspire
trying to make it all ring
I give up–I may be a poet but I am not into rhyming! Tomorrow I’ll get up a more serious post about the wines I’m tasting for Global #zinfandel day. In the meantime, check out my twitter feed.
How do you plan to celebrate Global Zinfandel Day, Friday November 19, 2010 from midnight to midnight?
All you have to do is open a bottle of zin and enjoy it! I tell you, I am such a zin fan I’m ready to pop a cork at midnight and begin tweeting! (After all, I cut my wine “teeth” working at Ridge!)
If you want to get social, use the #Zinfandel hashtag to connect with other zin lovers on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Gowalla, blogs, etc. You can also search the hash tag on social sites to see what others are drinking and read what they’re saying allowing you to connect and chat with other Zin drinkers around the world.
Knowing that I am a huge zin fan (and a fan of well made HUGE zins), they had sent me the following–a bottle of Bianchi Zin (as well as a bottle of Petite Sirah!) and an invitation to meet Bianchi Winery’s winemaker Tom Lane (who, they claim) offers “a savory blend of quirky humor, mixed with deep passion and winemaking insights.”
As I’m considering how to celebrate Global #Zinfandel Day this Friday November 19, I’m wondering if maybe it’s time to sample that bottle of Bianchi Zin.
Winemaker Tom Lane certainly has the credentials–with “countless accolades and medals under his belt after more than 25 years of winemaking.” Tom graduated from UC Davis and began his professional winemaking career at Navarro Vineyards then he joined Concannon Vineyard where “Tom helped the winery earn hundreds of accolades, including Wine and Spirits Magazine Winery of the Year in 1995 and 1997.” Tom’s also received a Dan Berger Winemaker of the Year, 1997 and Jerry Mead’s Winemaker of the Year in 1996.
Since driving from the Ventura area to Bianchi by myself to taste wine and hang out with Tom would be MUCH more fun to do with others, tell me in the comments why I should choose YOU to go with me! Bonus points for people who blog and tweet regularly about wine. Bonus points if you like The Write Alley on facebook! More bonus points if you’re a subscriber to this blog! And if you tweet this (be sure to mention Art Predator!), you are definitely in the running.
This opportunity is open to as many people as I can fit into my car!
Last weekend, for my son’s 7th birthday, we invited everyone he and we could think of to join us at Sycamore Cove State Beach campground for a camp out and birthday party.
So what wine did I bring to go along with bugs and hot dogs?
You might be surprised to discover I brought Pepperwood Grove Old Vine Zinfandel–a wine in a box.
Now before you turn up your nose, hear me out.
We do a LOT of camping. We go to Burning Man. We gather with friends for BBQs at the beach. We go off road for hours and hours on end to get to a remote campsite or hot spring. We are SERIOUS campers.
And I am serious about wine as well–even when I’m camping! After all, that’s when we really eat well and we have time to relax and enjoy ourselves, the view, the evening air…For proof, Continue reading →
We love Halloween around here! We love pumpkin bread and pumpkin soup and even Smashing Pumpkins Ale! We put pumpkin in our pancakes and waffles regularly–not just at Halloween.
So when a friend of mine sent me this recipe a month ago for a pumpkin soup, I knew we’d be having it during this Halloween season. She also suggested that I pair it with a merlot, Continue reading →
So how did I spend the 24 hours of Global #Zinfandel Day?
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 