More Wine Notes

2002 Balentine Vineyards Block 9 Zinfandel - Good cherry flavors in a light styled Zin. More in the style of a Merlot. I like my Zins big and brawny.

2001 Trinity Oaks California Zinfandel - Another light Zin with good fruit flavors. This one has slightly more complex flavors.

2004 Peachy Canyon "Westside" Zinfandel Paso Robles - Bigger and more interesting, still very fruit forward. I'm not really too peachy keen on this one either. They are all good wines, just not exciting Zins.

2002 Avila Santa Barbera Syrah - A little bigger and more interesting, but nowhere near most Washington State Syrah.

2004 Juan Gil Jumilla Red - From an up and coming region of Spain, you would never guess it was Spanish,, could just as well be from Chile, Argentina, California. More good fruit, another wine that works, but doesn't excite.

So here's the thing! All these wine work. They have good fruit and they are very drinkable, but none of them are distinctive - no terroir, no varietal character, no winemaker signature. At least they are not bad, and they are a heck of a lot better than most of the swill available on the supermarket shelf or, for example, at Trader Joe's. A cut above two buck chuck, but whether it's worth it depends on your pocketbook.