One Zin, Two Zin, Red Zin, New Zin...

The first wine I'm going to talk about is one I just found out I like on Monday night at my training. Sure, I could try to start at the beginning and work my way forwards, noting every wine I've tasted up until now, but I don't think I remember them well enough. I'm going to be skipping around.

The other thing you should know is that I'm only going to use fancy wine-talk when I can, and when I use it I'll let you know. Otherwise, my own language will have to suffice. This is mostly for my own personal record-keeping. Anyone else who follows along...good luck.

Artezin Red Zinfandel

I don't usually like dry reds, but this one was different. I'm slowly learning that even if you don't like a wine, try it with different foods before you completely negate it. Food & wine are "paired" together because they help enhance each other. When you get a really good pairing, it's like enjoying sweet & sour or sweet & salty. Going back and forth between the two becomes so addicting!

This red was a medium bodied wine. In wine-talk, the best way to explain body is to think of milk. Skim milk is like a light-bodied wine, and whole milk is like a full-bodied wine. So my Artezin Red Zin was a medium-bodied, or 1-2% milk. =)

The aroma was very strawberry to me. Like strawberry syrup. My boss read the label, which described it as raspberry, actually. I also tasted a lot of 'berry', and then at the end, after swallowing, there was a peppery/spicy kick that is typical of Zinfandel. The taste after you swallow the wine is called a 'finish.'

After having it by itself, we tried it with white cheddar cubes. Delicious! The mild sharpness of the cheddar enhanced the sweetness of the wine and it was almost candy-like. A dry red? Candy?

Well, the dryness was still there. After swallowing, I could definitely feel my mouth parch a little. But the creaminess of the cheese soothed that as well.

Last night I enjoyed the last of the red zin with some dark chocolate I had in the house. It was amazing. The dark chocolate took on a milder, sweeter taste and the red zin became nutty, and still spicy, like Christmas.

I will definitely be buying this wine again. And, once again, a wine I wouldn't drink alone became fabulous with the right food pairings.