St. Francis 2005 Old Vine Zinfandel Region: Sonoma
Cost: $15.99 at Costco, $17.99 at Trader Joe's
Yum, yum yum. I randomly picked up this Zin at TJ's a few weeks ago, as I was getting tired of drinking the same wines in my repertoire. I am SO glad that I picked it up on a whim. This is really a great classic Zin. Full bodied, essence of oak, vanilla and full bodied. Very nice finish and smooth on the palette. Doesn't need much opening up, and goes fantastic with lighter cuts of steak (i.e. Flat Iron, NY) or Grilled Lamb. Needless to say, when I saw it for two dollars cheaper at Costco, I picked up a couple more bottles.
Saddlerock 2005 Merlot
Region: (Believe it or not) Malibu- or as they write on the label, "Central Coast"
Cost: Roughly $10.00 at Costco
I got suckered into buying a 3 pack of wine at Costco from the Malibu family vineyards. The 3 pack consisted of an 05 Merlot, an 05 Cab and a Chardonnay. I was surprised that they were harvesting wine from Malibu, as generally, wines from Southern California (aka: Temecula) have pretty much sucked. However, I figured the weather in Malibu may have been a little more conducive to wine production than Temecula, so I figured I'd give it a go. I was actually really surprised with their Merlot, it was very fruit forward, with hints of vanilla, coffee and a light oaky finish. The best part is that they gave me 2 free passes to go to their vineyard and do a tasting. Yay!
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