We are suckers for a good Lodi Zinfandel with a price tag that you can afford often. When a winemaker asked us to preview his new line of wines and said that he would include his $10.99 Lodi Zinfandel, we couldn’t say YES fast enough.
And we were not disappointed. Wildfire Zinfandel is everything you could want in a Lodi Zin, and we consider it to be better than many other non-Lodi Zins which cost as much as $28 per bottle.
This wine starts with a nose that just screams “WOOHOO !!! LODI ZINFANDEL !!!!!!” It is rich with blueberries, cranberries and chocolate. These flavors follow through to the juicy, but not jammy, palate. The fruit is ripe without being sweet, and the finish is all soft, spicy pepper that leaves just the right little zip in the back of your mouth. We had to taste this without benefit of food, but when the question was asked, we all looked at each other and said “Chicken Wings!” at the same time. Our thought was to take the bottle to the nearest Buffalo Wild Wings, but they wouldn’t let us bring it in the door — something about “…liquor laws…” Well, Buffalo Wild Wings gets 0 Stars, but Wildfire Zinfandel gets a provisional 5 Stars — Highest Recommendation and if the price holds when we see it on the shelf, this will be a permanent rating.
We were so intrigued by our first bottle of LA Cetto that we had to find out more about the wines from this vineyard. We went out and found an ‘07 Petit Syrah to go with our strip steaks over the weekend. This wine is an inky dark violet color that is almost guaranteed to stain your teeth after the first glass. The fruit in the nose is very ripe and sweet and this carries over to the palate. The tannic finish leaves our mouth feeling dusty inside and I had a fleeting image at that moment of my grandmother standing in her attic. It must have been the slight lavender in the fruit and the dust on the palate that did it. Whatever it was, we thoroughly enjoyed the wine and for only the $11.99 we paid for it, we give it an unreserved 
Norton Malbec Reserva, 2005 — Mendoza, Argentina. $12 (14% alc/vol) We are big fans of Malbec but hadn’t tried this winery before, and thus we had no idea what to expect from them. To our great joy, we found this to be a thoroughly delightful wine! A huge nose full of raspberries, strawberries and figs gives way to a medium bodied palate full of still more fruit and gentle oak tannins. The 12 months in French oak for this wine was just perfect, leaving the oak understated, yet powerful. This juicy wine finished just the way it started, with lots of fruit and gentle tannins. We paired it with lasagna and were not disappointed, as the two complemented each other beautifully. From a quick tour of the internet, we find that our bottle was probably a bit old, as the current vintage is 2006. But no matter. This wine gets 5 Stars and our Highest Recommendation.
We don’t fully appreciate some of the Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs with their over the top grapefruit bomb palates. This wine is NOT one of those. The nose on this wine yields a mixture of dense tropical & citrus fruit and is supported by an interesting basil & spice mix all the way through the palate. There is a juicy acidity in your mouth that can be found only in great Sauvignon Blancs. We give this wine 5 STARS — HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION
This Cabernet from the “Heart of Napa” is an inky black monster, best given 4 or more hours to decant before you dive into it. We found this tiny 15 acre vineyard in St. Helena, CA. Owner Peter Story was a delightful cellar master and host as he told us how he prunes his vines to an unbelievable 1 bunch of grapes per cane. For comparison, most vineyards will trim to 6-8 bunches, high quality vineyards will trim to 4 bunches, and Opus One trims to 2 bunches. Needless to say, Peter’s yields are minuscule, but his wine is just huge, because all of the nourishment that would have gone up the vine and into 6 or more bunches of grapes is now going into just one bunch. This results in very, very intense flavors. 
There are only 1800 cases of this wine made in the world, and it is definitely worth your time to seek one out. This is not the ‘big” Australian Shiraz that you might be accustomed to. Instead this is a much smaller, and more refined version of the wine. We were told that this is due to a shorter maceration period (whatever that means) but that the flavor and complexity comes through due to the nature of the very old vines the winemaker uses. Whatever the reason, we love to drink this wine while watching the sunset. It starts with bright cherry flavors in the nose, carries those through to the palate along with ripe plum and blackberries. The finish is dry but not overly tannic. We really would have expected to pay more for such a wine, so we give it 5 STARS — HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION
Piuquenes Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 — Mendoza, Argentina — Under $10 — With a nose of rich blackberries and plums, this Cabernet is a pleasant surprise. The forward fruit follows all the way through the palate and into the finish, along with gentle tannins and oak. For the money, this is a great value wine, sure to please your palate if you are just watching the sunset or going to a friend’s house and bringing the wine for a casual dinner. 5 STARS — HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION
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St. Helena Winery