Rancho Zabaco

Eric Cinnamon makes a lot of good Zinfandels for the Rancho Zabaco label, and if you’re familiar with the label you probably have your own favorites. I keep coming back to the “Heritage Vines” bottling even though it’s a county wine rather than a vineyard wine. I rationalize this three ways. First, the wine costs less than twenty bucks but always drinks like it costs more. Second, Sonoma County is the quintessential Zinfandel county. I’ve had terrific Zins from at least half a dozen appellations in Sonoma, and plenty of great county wines as well. Third, the plant material is good. Combine good cultivars with good Zin country and a winemaker who specializes in the grape, and good things happen. This version has attractive brambly qualities and deep, concentrated dark fruit in the aromas.

Those “heritage ” vines could be interplanted with blueberries, because the wine is loaded with them, plus blackberries and sweet wild cherries. All these flavours take turns in your mouth, not as independent actors but as successive waves of fruit-flavored enjoyment. Another thing about this wine: it’s not nearly as big a Zin as Cinnamon can make, so it’s never hot or threatening to knock your palate out of your mouth. Instead the wine features a smooth texture and elegant acidity that rides close into the texture and sweetness rather than thinning out the edges. Final note: I retasted the 2004 for this review, and it was even better after a year in bottle than when I first sampled it. I know it sounds goofy to cellar an $18 county Zin, but with this wine, I would.

Reviewed May 29, 2008 by Thom Elkjer.