Cline California Zinfandel, 2003 vintage
Price: $10-$12
Suggested food pairings:  Wood-grilled red meats, sharp cheeses, pulled pork or barbecue-sauced protein of almost any persuasion.

Not for the faint of heart, this wine smells and tastes like a velvet fruit bomb at first, but packs a wallop of tannin and spice that equals the intensity of the fruit, giving it a grip on your mouth that commands you to pay attention to little else. Most giant Zins make it easy for you slurp away with their pudgy fruit profiles that are only foiled by their high alcohol content. This wine is 89 percent Zinfandel with three other lesser-known varietals blended in to the mix to add “depth and structure” to the wine, as the winery puts it. 

This wine could lose a big part of either its depth or structure and still be a winner at this price point. I seldom encounter any Zin that I feel could handle three or more years of aging, but this one could be the exception that proves the rule—all at a very moderate price.

This Zin is one of many labels from Cline over a 20-plus year history, but it gets a lot of their attention which, in turn, garners an enthusiastic following. This is no doubt due to the quality/price relationship. Cline owns some of the oldest Zinfandel vines on this continent. Evidence of their extra attention in production is manifested by the use of new French oak barrels on a wine that sells for 11 bucks. A new French oak barrel costs between $500 and $900 dollars—and it’s delivered empty!

The wine is a true garnet red with languid legs that travel the side of the glass in unhurried waves. The nose is jammy, with a raisin and spiced vanilla backdrop that leads you to believe you’re in for a trip to the jelly shop. That fruit and raisin quality shows big as day but is benevolently challenged by a tannic quality that marries itself to a rustic acid—bringing yet a third major angle to the architecture of this wine. I still cannot believe this is the price that it is —I’m getting a case so I can lay down six bottles.

Craig Pierce can be reached at craig_l_pierce[at]hotmail[dot]com.