Smidge Wines - The Donald - Barossa Valley Zinfandel - 2005

The last selection I looked at from Smidge Wines this week is The Donald. It's a Zinfandel from Barossa Valley. It strikes me as fitting that Zinfandel is starting to emerge from Australia. Many of the characteristics of great Shiraz are reminiscent of great Zinfandel. So it should only be a matter of time before we see significant inroads in the amount of Zinfandel  being produced in Australia. If that's the case, Smidge Wines will have a leg up as they already produce two Zinfandel's. The Donald spent 11 months in 2-4 year oak before being bottled unfiltered. A mere 140 cases of The Donald were produced and it retails for $29.

The nose of The Donald is full of dark berry fruit and mocha notes. The first sip reveals lots of black pepper and spice continuing through a mid-palate that is deep, dark and reminiscent of Bosco due to the mouth-filling chocolate notes that absolutely envelope the palate and explode on the back of the throat with the smooth feel of syrup. The finish has some light toasty notes and more spice accompanied by the ever-present mocha notes that carry themselves throughout The Donald. This is a big, rich and extravagant tasting wine that's balanced by firm acidity and gentle tannins. A steak would be a terrific match for The Donald as would dark chocolate.

Zinfandel in Australia is essentially in it's infancy. But Smidge Wines has managed to produce one that is reminiscent of some of the great California Zinfandel's of the Dry Creek Valley. An area that often sets the benchmark for Zinfandel.

The Donald was tight and a bit tart coming out of the bottle. I recommend decanting it for about 90 minutes to get maximum pleasure when drinking it. Having had Smidge The Wine Australia Festival and again this week I feel strongly about recommending them as one to look out for. A ton of Australian Wine makes it to the Unite States and it's often hard to navigate through all that's available. Smidge Wines are one producer that it's worth going out of your way to find. I'd expect The Donald to drink well at least through 2011.

Coming Up: A Week long look at Mendocino's Brutocao Cellars

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Cosentino - The Zin 2004 - Sonoma County

Amongst the 30 or so different wines each year, Cosentino Winery makes two distinct Zinfandel's, CigarZin and The Zin. Both of those are generally sourced primarily in the Lodi area of California. Year in and year out these wines represent the largest case productions in the Cosentino portfolio. Some years they make additional smaller lots of other Zinfandel's. These are occasionally reserves or vineyard designates. In 2004 they made second lot under the label "The Zin." Instead of being from Lodi this smaller production was produced from Sonoma County fruit and labelled as such. Stylistically this wine seems to fall almost exactly between CigarZin and the Lodi sourced production of The Zin. Whereas CigarZin is full of jammy fruit that bursts out of the glass immediately, The Zin (Lodi) is far more austere and reserved at first. It takes longer to open up and reveal itself. When it does there are copious amounts of berry and pepper notes on the mid palate. Consequently The Zin traditionally lives longer in bottle and tends to benefit from laying down for a couple of years.

The Zin (Sonoma County) hits you with dark berry flavor immediately but is still more restrained than CigarZin. A couple of hours after opening it was really singing. The dark berry component as well as significant spice were both present on the mid palate. The finish lasts a noticeably long time and is filled with more berry and white pepper as well as some earthiness.  This zinfandel is well balanced with good acidity. There is no noticeable heat from the alcohol which can be a problem with some Zinfandel's made in a big and bold style.

Since 1980 Mitch Cosentino has been putting out wines of distinction. Zinfandel, while a large percentage of their production is a drop in the bucket varietal wise when you consider how many different wines they make each year. Between the Crystal Valley Cellars imprint, CE2V and the flagship Cosentino branded wines they also make wines in a wide breadth of price ranges. At every level they succeed in making an interesting product that is distinct but recognizable as a Cosentino wine.  If you see Mitch Cosentino's name on it, it's well worth your time and money to drink.

Old Vine Zin

I love good Old Vine Zinfandel. The ones from Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma seem to be particularly tasty.  I had the 2002 Manzanita Creek Carreras Ranch last night, it didn't dissapoint.

Jammy, White Pepper, Long Finish.

A Touch Raisiny with some Late Harvest Characteristics.

In Short: Classic Zinfandel. If You like your Zins BIG, checkout Manzanita Creek .