It's a bird, it's a plane, no, it's Lodi Zin!

I've promised myself this when I started drinking wine: I would always keep an open mind and continue to try new things. And I do, I really do (see my posts on Godello and Furmint). But I can see myself trending towards Old World vineyards and neglecting my palate's education in other such areas of the world, like California and Australia. I noticed this bottle kicking around downstairs: the 2006 Benson Ferry 9x9 Old Vine Zinfandel. This was a gift to my parents over the holidays; as my Dad doesn't drink wine and my Mom is more of a white wine drinker, I inherited it. I researched online and found that it's going about $11.99 retail, give or take. This zinfandel is from the AVA of Lodi in California. I'm already on a less traveled path for my palate: California and zinfandel are not common in my wine drinking escapades.

To start off the color was a pretty ruby color, one that looked dark, but you could see your fingers through it. Also, there were some rather long legs sticking alongside my glass (something I'm not quite used to with the normal 12.5% or so in Eurowines). This zinfandel smelled like an open-faced blackberry and black cherry pie that just came out of the oven- it's mostly that smell of that smushed up scrumptious berry mixture that always seems to be left on your plate after you finished your slice. But there's a hint and I mean tiny hint of mossy forest floor. It's as if someone tossed a tiny piece of moss onto your pie plate and you're thinking "What's this doing here?" This zinfandel starts off with all that fruit (blueberries, black cherries, and blackberries), shifts to a more tannic, earthy wine at the midpalate, and then finishes with a baseball mitt that has one tobacco leaf and some of that berry pie oozing out of it.

This 9x9 Zinfandel is like the Clark Kent of wines (I'm speaking strictly of his Daily Planet persona, not Superman). As with this wine, Clark Kent is the "gee shucks" type person who is sweet and thoughtful and will do anything for you. At first glance, Clark doesn't seem to be hiding anything. I mean, really, what could be so interesting about Clark that he'd need to lie about? However, he has hidden layers and is more complex than most of his friends would ever give him credit for. This wine, although not a complete 180 from its nose, is certainly more interesting than I first thought it would be. Even though it doesn't make the full Clark Kent/Superman comparison, the Benson Ferry 9x9 Zinfandel does not disappoint and made for a nice treat for my palate.

Boston Wine Expo, Day One

This past weekend, I was attended the Boston Wine Expo and had a fabulous experience! Gary Vaynerchuk was the keynote speaker at the Expo and was also there to spread the word about his blog, Wine Library TV, as well as give away tons of free bags and wristbands. I helped the Wine Lib crew at the booth on Saturday and Sunday. During the trade hours, I was lucky enough to be able to run about and taste from some of the hundreds of exhibitors. This weekend was a bunch of firsts for me, as I got to try several Sauternes, Gavi di Gavi, Arneis, Mazuelo (Carignan) from Navarra, Agiorgitiko (St. George), Moschofilero, some bodacious reds from Lodi, and a Zinfindel from Chile from TerraMater. And this was just on Saturday.

That night, I got to eat and drink at the lovely Troquet restaurant in Boston. The food was wonderful and it ran the gamut from minestrone soup with wild boar to confit de canard to pork belly. And of course, when eating with fellow wine nerds, we had some good bottles. The first was the 2002 JJ Christoffel Auslese Riesling Ürziger Würzgarten. Lovely nose, nice peachy notes and great minerality on the palate. Now that is riesling my friends! The red that followed was the 2004 Coche Dury Bourgogne, the super hard to find pinot noir from Burgundy. For my palate, pinot noir usually comes off as too barnyardy and unenjoyable for me. As much as I love Old World wines, this is one varietal that prefer from the New World. The Coche Dury was an exception to that rule; even though there were some light barnyard elements to it, the wine had a smoothness and polish about it that I haven't tasted in Old World pinot before. Perhaps it's that I usually can't afford to drop tons-o-money on a bottle of wine and to compound this, the entrance price to a good pinot has become higher and higher. Call it the "Sideways" effect. The Coche Dury was fabulous and if you ever see it on a list, get it. Not only is a very hard wine to find, but there's some serious juice in the bottle.

And to end the night: the Expo After Party at the Boston Wine School. There were a lot of good Vayniacs there to celebrate. The party was well stocked with wine and small hors-d'oeuvres. The prosecco and the prosecco rosé that was poured was definitely a crowd pleaser, although I prefer wines with a bit more acidity and bite to them. I also got to try out the 2006 Truro Vineyards Triumph, a meritage blend from a local vineyard from Cape Cod. I was a bit skeptical that Bordeaux varietals could fully ripen here, but the wine was not terrible!* I was quite surprised that it had some nice flavors and wasn't completely overoaked. Kudos. That being said, I can get actual AOC Bordeaux wines that cost less even after the import taxes.

All in all, day one of the Expo was a success. Had some great wines, some not so great, and got to meet some wonderful people.

*There is some doubt as to whenever all the fruit is grown in Massachusetts, as claimed by the winery. Check out the comments section.