Westside Liquor's November 2009 Wine Newsletter

Store Hours: Monday-Saturday 8:00am-10:00pm

Welcome to Westside Liquor's monthly wine newsletter. It is our goal to spread the good word about new and exciting products in each and every newsletter. We also will give staff reviews of featured products to help you pick out a wine. In future issues we will also delve into informative articles so we all can better understand the contributing factors involved in bringing us our favorite wine.

Current Events

Wine Tuesdays
All regular priced bottles of wine are 15% off and cases are 20% off, every Tuesday! This excludes yellow stickered sale wines.

"Big Red Zinfandels hit the Spot"

     This time of the year we tend to switch over to the bigger and bolder wines for the season. Light whites take a backseat and robust reds start to come out of the cellar. The food we eat is  hearty and therefore the wine is more full bodied. One grape variety I love this time of the year is the big red Zinfandel. Yes it's the same grape they make white Zinfandel out of but this is the big brother that is rich, flamboyant and slightly boisterous. The grape originally hails from Croatia where it's known as the Crljenak Kastelanski. In Italy it's called the Primitivo and of course here we call it Zinfandel. Even though the grape is now known not to be our own indigenous variety, we still have the oldest vines in the world. Some gnarly vines in California are 120 years and older. The Zinfandel tends to be jammy, spicy and full of red fruits and dark fruits. Less tannic then a Cabernet Sauvignon the Zinfandel pairs great with a wide array of foods. Even though they have high alcohol to them they still marry great with ham, turkey, chili, pizza, pepper steak or red meats. The wine also goes excellent with many different types of cheese. Try a Spanish Manchego all the way to a creamy Brie. If you still have the grill out as I do this wine sings with ribs and burgers. Here is a list of four complex and well balanced big Zinfandels that are all must tries.

1)      Brazin Old Vine  Zinfandel Lodi, 2007 -   This is a new favorite of mine. Great complexity with aromas and flavors of raspberry, plum, blackberry, spice and peppers explode in the glass. 

2)      Klicker Brick Old Vine  Zinfandel Lodi, 2006 - Aromas of cherries, tobacco and mint float out of the glass. Flavors of chocolate, raspberry and spice fill the palate with silky layers.

3)      Four Vines Old Vine Cuvee Zinfandel, 2007 - Aromas of anise, spice and plum make this a joy to smell in the glass. Flavors of blackberry with a hint of toasty oak on the finish. Nice balance.

4)      Cline Zinfandel 2008 - This is one of the most consistent Zinfandels on the shelf year after year. Aromas and flavors of black cherry, raspberry and vanilla make this a joy to drink. Always a great bang for the buck!