Zinfandel Wine Review for a Classic California Zinfandel
Where to start with this California Zinfandel? Perhaps with the minimalist label that was written on a label maker — you know the ones. They make labels in strips perhaps a half an inch wide on plastic tape that has a peel off sticker on one side. That’s the front label – just the word “Saldo”. You have to go to the back label to find out it’s a Zinfandel wine made by Orin Swift Cellars in St. Helena, California. And that’s the appellation, California zinfandel with a 15.5% alcohol. In a previous blog entry, I mentioned that the wine tasting experience begins with the packaging. This bottle of zinfandel wine was big, heavy with lots of glass. It looked very inky and with that minimalist lettering “Saldo” on purple plastic tape, I just knew it was going to be a big, jammy zinfandel.
Zinfandel Tasting Notes
When I opened the bottle and poured it into the glass I knew immediately it was a zinfandel. It had a bright purple on the edge and while the color of the wine was a deep purple, it was not trying to overpower you. A classic zinfandel nose with cloves, violets and berries, strawberries, black cherries and raspberries. It is a style of zinfandel I particularly like. It had bright fruit, lots of depth and a pleasant, lingering finish. Good acidity there to support the fruit. Not overpowering, the winemaker seemed to let the fruit do the talking. Yet this is a wine that I think will continue to improve with time. Inquiring minds wanted to know more about this wine so a Google search later, I find out that this is the first vintage for this wine and it made up of zinfandel (85%), Syrah (10%) and Petite Syrah (5%).
California Zinfandel Wine from all of California’s wine regions
The winemaker must have scoured every California appellation that produced Zinfandel because the wine comes from the all of the following California wine regions:
- Sonoma (54%),
- Napa (16%),
- Mendocino (15%),
- Amador (9%) and
- Contra Costa (6%)
And the meaning of “Saldo”? It means balance and that could be a more succinct and accurate descriptor for this excellent Zinfandel.
