Falcon Ridge Lodi Zinfandel 2004
Price: $6
Maker: Accents Vineyards, Modesto, California
Varietal: Zinfandel
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 14.3%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Falcon Ridge Lodi Zinfandel 2004 is one of the least expensive Zins we’ve run across (from Trader Joe’s, of course), and it’s not half bad. It’s definitely a wine that needs to breathe. Even after sitting in the glass for a bit, it seems rather thin and bland. It improved with time, though. In fact, we inadvertently left the bottle uncorked for quite about eight hours. Rather than being ruined, it had improved. I wouldn’t actually recommend leaving this Zin open on the counter overnight, but plan on decanting and/or extended breathing period. When we resampled the wine, we found spicy berries in the nose. We were surprised that the wine had become very juicy at the start, with cherries, strawberries, and a hint of chocolate. This segued into a spicy, slightly oaky finish. This Zin, considering its price, was reasonably complex and balanced. It’s not an outstanding Zin, but certainly one of the few very drinkable ones available for $6.
Looking around the blogosphere, we founds a few opinions. Quaffability thought, “not bad at all at this price, yet somehow vaguely disappointing.” Wine for Real People said the Falcon Ridge Zin said, “while smooth and drinkable, [it] was a little muted.” Like some other Trader Joe’s wine suppliers, Accents Vineyards seems to have no web presence, or at least one that’s findable by a good effort on Google. That’s too bad - for the minimal cost of a website, I’m sure the Falcon Ridge brand could be enhanced.
And don’t forget to give this one some air - we would have rated Falcon Ridge Lodi Zinfandel 2004 a full point lower had we not gotten past our initial tasting!
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