Fourth of July weekend is one of the times each year when it’s definitely important to have wine on hand that will please a large crowd. Whether you’re grilling at home, celebrating with friends and family, or dining out, there are sure to be a wide array of taste buds in most gatherings. Quenching those taste buds at a reasonable cost is what I look to do on these occasions. The folks at Big House have been making widely available wines with crowd appeal that won’t bust your budget for years. Today I’ll look at one of their Zins to see if it fits the bill for this holiday weekend.
The Big House 2009 Cardinal Zin Beastly Old Vines Zinfandel was produced using fruit sourced from a number of appellations throughout California. In addition to Zinfandel (80%), this wine also contains Mourvedre (10%), Carignane (8%), and Petite Sirah (2%). 35,000 cases of this offering were produced. It’s available in traditional 750 ml bottles as well as 3 Liter boxes or casks as they call them. The respective suggested retail prices are $9.99 and $22.
Red raspberry and cherry aromas burst forcefully from the nose of this 2009 Zinfandel. Loads of sweet red fruit flavors appear throughout the palate; they’re interspersed with hints of dark fruit such as blackberry and black cherry. Candied fruit flavors emerge on the finish along with black and white pepper spice, pie crust and rhubarb.
This is a very appealing wine that will delight its core audience, large groups of people having a BBQ or party. It’s an easy drinking Zinfandel that will pair very well with just about anything that comes off of your grill. In the 3 Liter format it works out to just over $5 a bottle. That’s hard to beat especially when you take into account that housed in this Eco-Friendly format this offering will drink well for about a month after it was first opened.