Wannabe Wino

The wine was a 2004 Roshambo Taylor Vineyard Zinfandel. It cost $28 in a club shipment, was 15.4% alcohol by volume and had a real cork closure. I served it with cheeseburgers and corn on the cob in a celebration of grilling weather returning (though we will have to wait until we move to the house to actually grill, you can't have grills on balconies in the county we live in). Normally I would pick a Cabernet Sauvignon with my burger, but we don't have any that I feel are ready to drink right now.

On the nose of the wine I found blackberry jam, hints of vanilla, tart cherries and spices. In the mouth the tart cherries on the nose followed through and raspberries showed up in the glass over the course of the evening, along with nice spices that went well with the tart cherries. The finish was long and smooth.

I drank this one in my first blog tasting back in November and said I should cellar it longer. I think it's drinking really well right now, the flavors are great; it's easily my favorite Roshambo offering so far. It's also interesting to see just what drinking wine nearly every night for 6 months has done to my palate. Picking out flavors seems much easier and it's difficult for me to decide if that's because I have more confidence now or if perhaps I was right and this wine did need to sit for a bit longer (can 6 months make that much of a difference?). Back in my first post on this wine, I said it tasted fruited and that I thought perhaps it was cherries. I also picked up on the spice, but thought it was pepper at the time. I was cautious in my review and was questioning myself. I still have ocassions where I question if I am actually tasting something that I think I am or times where I know there is a flavor in the wine but I simply can't place it. However, I don't find those times frustrating, I see them as a chance to figure out what it is and I often post them here to see if anyone else has had the wine and can help me put a finger on what I am tasting. Let's see what the next 6 months of tasting does for me. If for nothing else, I hope my confidence in my palate continues to grow and that I get to taste many more great wines.