2006 Chateau Montelena Zinfandel The Montelena Estate

To me, there is no better wine on a snow filled winter day than a good zinfandel. Fall seems to be zinfandel season for us, and there is something about the cold weather that makes us really enjoy a big, spicy, jammy zin! I find that we don't drink zinfandels nearly as much during the summer months, as it just doesn't seem as refreshing as drinking a nice white, or a good pinot noir or rose.

It seems that zinfandel is sometimes still considered the red headed step child, and the whipping boy so to say. I think that zin gets a bad rap for no good reason, but there definitely are some good ones out there.

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Gorgeous dark jamminess in the glass. On the nose, this wine is definitely young and tight. A lot of alcohol is prevalent on the nose, but I don't think this wine has been in the bottle all that long. Some jammy raspberry, currants, and dark cherry shine through, but the alcohol overwhelms all of this. Secondary nuances of vanilla and caramel that I attribute to the oak come through as well.

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On the palate, there is some nice raspberry jam, a bit of strawberry, and black fruit. This is a tannic monster right now, so a double decant was necessary through the Vinturi, and then through another aeratng funnel. Plenty of jam on the palate, but again, the alcohol, oak, an tannins cover up the fruit. After a glass each, we are heading out to brave the storm and walk into town to one of the local watering holes. I left the decanter in the kitchen next to the cold window, and don't feel that this needs to be vacuumed and put into the cellar, but we'll see.

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On day two, after a 18 hour decant, this wine has evolved very nicely. The alcohol and tannins have definitely settled and integrated, and the fruit is finally the star on the nose. The same raspberry and currants shine through, with some blueberry and blackberry. The oak has mellow, but is still showing nice caramel and vanilla tones, and there are secondary characteristics of grilled meats, and smoke.

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On the palate, the tannins and alcohol integrated very nicely, but a bit of the thick jamminess is gone. The same fruit profile is there, and this is drinking very easily. All in all, i would hold this wine for at least another year, or give it a 4-6 hour decant before drinking. All in all, a nice zin from Chateau Montelena, and we'll have to search this one out again. 90 points.

Turley Release ALERT!

It is definitely that time of year! MAILER SEASON IS HERE!

Here is the latest offer from Turley. For more information, please visit: http://www.turleywine.com/

2008 Dragon Vineyard Zinfandel Howell Mountain 2008 Duarte Zinfandel Contra Costa County 2008 Dusi Vineyard Zinfandel Paso Robles 2008 Grist Vineyard Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley

2008 Juvenile Zinfandel California 2008 Mead Ranch Zinfandel Atlas Peak 2008 Old Vines Zinfandel California 2008 Rattlesnake Ridge Zinfandel Howell Mountain 2008 Turley Estate ZinfandelNapa Valley 2008 Vineyard 101 ZinfandelAlexander Valley 2008 Tofanelli Vineyard Charbono Napa Valley 2008 Rattlesnake Ridge Petite Syrah Howell 2008 Turley Estate Petite Syrah Napa Valley

Under the Moon - Bordentown, NJ

Tonight, we met with fellow Ebob and Chowhound members tom246 for another evening of fun food and vino at Under the Moon in downtown Bordentown City. Tom had made a a 7:30PM reservation, and they had our table ready and waiting for us. Thank God Tom had made a reservation, as there wasn’t an open table in the house. Always great to see this restaurant thriving! As a matter of fact, all the restaurants in town were packed tonight as we walked by, and that is always nice to see.

We were greeted and seated by Fawn at a round table that we have been seated at quite a few times in the upper ½ of the restaurant. Many great items on the menu tonight, but unfortunately they were sold out of the strip steak. Bummer as this is always one of my favorites, and such a great bargain, but never fear, there are always some other great entrees to chose from.

As usual, we both brought many options for wine. From Tom’s stash, we opted for a 2004 Copain Cerise, and from my bag we went with the 2005 Tobin James Dusi Vineyard zinfandel. I also asked Silvi to throw a 2006 Tobin James Charisma into their fridge for dessert. Feel free to read the wine reviews in previous posts, or see my notes on CellarTracker.com. Fawn brought some of their signature bread out, which is small, sliced, light and fluffy bread rounds, toasted on the Panini press with a little oil and garlic. It’s always nice, and gets a little something in your belly before the salads come out. The side of chimichurri that comes with it is to die for, and one of Mama's many homemade treats.

For dinner tonight, I was torn between the Autumn Pork, which I have had on a few other occasions, as well as the French Pork, which I have never had. I ended up going with the French Pork just to try something new. Zelda ordered the seafood enchiladas tonight, while Tom ordered the Autumn Pork, and Denise opted for the crab cakes.

A few minutes after ordering, out came the house salads that are always included with the entrees. These are always nice little salads, with fresh lettuce, a couple sliced tomatoes, some red onion, dried herbs, and a nice balsamic vinaigrette. This is a nice, light salad, and yet another pleasure while we waited for our entrees to come out.

With great conversation throughout the night about wine, it seemed as though our entrees came out in no time...which they probably did. As usual, the portions were very large. I had two nice pork medallions on my plate, that were the perfect thickness. Not too thick as though they will not cook through, yet not to thin that they will dry out. It came accompanied with a nice side of rice, and the pork itself was smothered in a nice medley of apple, fig maybe, cinnamon, and some other spices. It really brought out a nice flavor in the pork. Zelda's seafood enchilladas were absolutely phenomenol. Not only were they large, but they were filled with some great shrimp, scallop, crab, and I am not sure what else quite honestly. The texture was wonderful, the filling was rich and creamy, and the sauce on top was a a perfect finisher. I look forward to ordering these for myself in the future. The other entrees at the table looked nice as well, and I have had them both in the past. As much as I love the crab cakes that I make, Santiago uses my same concept...let the flavors of the crab shine. Don't doctor them up with a bunch of vegetables or seasoning, and use as little filler as possible. This is a great philosophy! After dinner, we were all absolutely stuffed, and instead of ordering dessert, we opened the Charisma that I had brought, which actually turned out to be thin, alcohol tasting, and rather disappointing. I guess we should have brought some Tobin James Liquid Love instead, but at least we know for next time. All in all, a wonderful evening with some friends that we really enjoy chatting with about two of our favorite hobbies, food and wine. As always, the Under the Moon gang provided great service and a wonderful dinner, and we always look forward to visiting them. Hopefully we'll be back soon! Cheers!

DISCLAIMER: this review was written in a hurry, and I need to go back in, clean it up, and add some details when I get some more time.

2006 Tobin James Zinfandel Charisma

Anyone who knows Tobin James knows how much of a treat their dessert wines are. We have had their Liquid Love many times, whether it be just the normal bottling, reserve, or Late Harvest, and they have all been very enjoyable. I have head nothing but great things about the Charisma, so I figured it would be fun to enjoy one tonight with Tom and Denise. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as enjoyable as some of the other wines we have had, but what can you do?

Silvi put this in the fridge for us during dinner, so it stayed nice and cold. Unfortunately, when we opened this wine, the nose didn't give off a whole lot really, and the wine seemed really thing on the palate. The Liquid Love on the other hand has always been very jammy, and thick, but maybe the thin style of the Charisma is how Toby and Lance like to craft this wine. We didn't finish this bottle unfortunately, but I did put a vacuum seal on it and throw it in the fridge, so we'll be sure to check this wine out again maybe on Monday night. More to come, but currently 82 points for the high alohol taste on the palate, and lack of complexity. Cheers!

2005 Tobin James Zinfandel Dusi Vineyard

With Tom always bringing such great wines, I figured that I would try to bring something fun, and something that we would enjoy. Tobin James is all about fun, over the top fruit bombs, and with the Dusi Vineyard harvesting such great fruit, I figured why not. This seemed to be a crowd pleaser at the table, however, it left me a bit disappointed. However, as Zelda pointed out, we had a huge transition from the elegant Copain Cerise pinot noir to this huge, fruit forward monster, and I think that she is right. Had I drank this wine on it's own, I think I would have enjoyed it a whole lot more. In the glass, this had a gorgeous dark ruby color. On the nose, wow! This wine was JAM CENTRAL! Huge hints of plum, blackberry jam, and raspberry marmalade...is there such a thing? The nose on this wine was fantastic. Moving onto the palate, I think that Tom said it best at first sip. "This wine is a mouthful of fruit." I could not have said it any better, however, it wasn't as pleasing on my palate after the pinot, and almost tasted over done to me. Regardless, nice dark berries on the palate, with more plum, currants, and strawberry. The finish however seemed a little out of balance to me, with some alcohol that seemed to go straight to your head, not your mouth. Does that makes sense? It's kind of hard to explain, but will try when I get some more time. 85 points.

2007 Seghesio Family Vineyards Zinfandel Sonoma County

This wine will definitely benefit from some more time in the bottle. Picked up today locally about hearing all the rants and raves about this wine. Got it home, had it in the Avanti for a few hours, then decanted through the Vinturi, into a decanter and let it sit for a good hour and a half before consuming. Beautiful nose of raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, and spice. There is still a bit of alcohol on the nose here as well, but I think that this will integrate nicely with 6 months to a year in the bottle. On the palate, a nice medium body, with hints of jammy blackberry and cherry. This some alcohol on the palate, and this wine is a bit hot, even after decanting. Tannins and spice prevalent on the palate, and more heat on the finish. Again, I think that time in the bottle is going to be everything with this wine. Still have 3 more in the cellar, and will pick some more up as it is just under $18 a bottle locally. Hell of a QPR, and looking forward to picking up a case of these soon! 88 points now, but will go well over 90 with some time in the bottle. Cheers! (

RELEASE ALERT - Tobin James

Unfortunately, you just don't know what you are going to get until it arrives at the house, but this morning I saw the charge on my debit card statement for my Spring Tobin James release.

If you are a lover of crazy, fruit forward, over the top wines, I highly recommend Tobin James to you. Their zinfandel's are amazing, and their dessert wines to die for. Check them out at: http://www.tobinjames.com/ or visit them at:

8950 Union Road
Paso Robles, CA 93446
Phone (805) 239-2204

Their Spring and Fall release consists of 8 bottles for $145 plus shipping. For that price, you really can't do a whole lot better for some tasty vino! Log on and join their club! You won't regret it! Cheers!