Merry Christmas!

I've enjoyed tasting wine with you throughout 2016 and am looking forward to some interesting finds in 2017.  To wrap up the year, I'd like to look back at my favorite bottle of 2016.

Have a safe and happy New Year - I'll see you again in 2017!

Z. Alexander Brown Uncaged: Pinot Noir 2013 – Russian River Valley

I work in the music field.  So I’ve tried most of the wines put out by musicians – sometimes by my own choice, other times because they were gifts from well-meaning friends who knew I loved wine and worked in music.   Some wines were good.  Most of the time I was left thinking, stick to making music or hire better wine makers.

I ignored the Zac Brown label for months.  Living in north Georgia, you can’t go far without running into someone who “knows” him, his band, or the guy who walks the sound engineer’s neighbor’s dog.  So the last thing I wanted to do was give a bad review on his wine. 

But I was in the local grocery store, deciding which wine to review next, and I noticed something amazing.  His Pinot Noir comes from the Russian River Valley.  I realize that doesn’t mean much to most.  To me, that means everything.  My all time favorite American red wine comes from the Russian River Valley.  I don’t think I’ve ever drank anything bad from the Russian River Valley.

So I bought the bottle and figured I’d skip the review if it was terrible.  I’ve a great wine rack.  There’s always something else waiting.

And did I mention I’m not a huge fan of Pinot Noir?  Watery.  That’s usually how I describe it.

The color is average for Pinot Noir.  It’s slightly darker than strawberry.  Maybe a touch darker than I’m used to.  A good sign.  Darker must mean heavier in flavor, right?

The nose is what I’d expect at first – currants and cherries.  Dark colored fruit, ripe, not too sweet.  But then an earthiness comes through followed by oak.  Okay, we’re getting somewhere now.

When I taste, there’s an initial “tang” to the flavor, a surprising sharpness I’m not expecting.  Once I get past that flavor, I taste dark cherries and a hint of dark chocolate.  Earth, I can even taste the earth of the Russian River Valley.  And it’s heavy, full of flavor.  There’s no softness, no lack of taste, I’m not left wishing for me.

It’s unbelievably good.

It’s also not the red wine I’d recommend any beginning red wine drinker to try.  It has body, substance, and weight to it.  It might be the best Pinot Noir I’ve had.

It’s so good I’m not going to give you a food pairing.  It’s that good all on its own.  In fairness, I tasted it with pimento cheese and crackers.  It was a decent pairing, but the wine was so good the rest became forgettable. 

I paid $14.99 for the bottle.  It’s worth every penny.

Z. Alexander is a part of Delicato Family Vineyards.  They also bottle Gnarly Head, Twisted, Belle Ambiance, and other common grocery store wines.  I’ll be checking some of those out soon, too.