This wine is a deep garnet color. The nose is filled with aromas of bright berried fruit, a hint of dust, and a lot of peppery spice. The palate mirrors the nose with those brambly berried fruit flavors, with an addition of a hint of tobacco, which gives this wine structure, and the wine finishes with lots of peppery spice. The combination of the bright brambly fruit, tobacco (mid palate), and pepper make for a wonderful and slightly rustic Zinfandel. I use the term rustic in a good way. I think it's unique flavor profile begs for fun foods like sausages, burgers, ribs off the grill, and even grilled pizza loaded with sausage. Another pairing would be a fillet wrapped in a good grade of peppered bacon, to really mix things up a bit. This wine would be wonderful paired with cream cheese topped with Tabasco Pepper Jelly served on crackers as a no cook appetizer. This wine would also be wonderful with a Panini made with beef pastrami, cheese and roasted red peppers! Try this wine with some of my suggested food pairings and tell me what you think! Note: This wine was a sample provided by Rodney Strong Vineyards http://www.rodneystrong.com SRP $18.50
PS I am from New Orleans, and have fallen in love with the Andouille Sausage from our local Fresh Market in West Little Rock, AR. I think this wine would be great with this sausage; this is my alternative to Hot Sausage from New Orleans. It makes a great Po-Boy, and is great in other creole dishes! You can take it out of the casing, and roll it into balls and cook it in the oven to serve as an appetizer; just add toothpicks. Also, you can add it into gumbo, soups or jambalaya for a flavorful kick! As you can see, I love to offer food pairings with wine. Wine and food belong together!
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