2005 Portteus Zinfandel

Winery Page

You can also read a Review from Jeff for this one. We had a farewell dinner for him when he moved to San Francisco, and he brought this along to drink while we had lamb burgers at Lola.

This Zin had a nice strong flavour, and it went really well with the lamb burger. Zin goes well with lamb, it is true. What was interesting was that as the air got into this one you could really taste it transforming almost in real time. I was quite impressed with that.

I didn’t buy it, but as I recall the price was very reasonable. I recommend anybody who loves a Zin try this out.

2005 Ridge Zinfandel

One of my favorite California growers is Ridge. Their simple label designs are indicative of the simple, truthful wine that they produce. I have never had a bad wine from them, and they seem to be like the Penfolds of California to me.

The 2005 Ridge Zinfandel (I forget specifically which, which is a pity) had a very earthy flavour to it, and it was surprisingly translucent. I was expecting something darker. But it went very well with the lamb stir fry that I had with it. Very spicy overtones as well, which I quite liked.

As always, they did not fail to impress with this one. Next time I will remember specifically which Zin it is, if only to remind myself of this. It is a pity I did not visit Ridge when I was in Napa.