I was looking for a decent bottle of wine that I wouldn’t have to feel bad about breaking out for no occasion at all, and I think I found it in this old vine zin.  Pepperwood Grove has always been recognized as an excellent value wine.  While I am more familiar with their pinots, merlots and cabs,  I was very excited to stumble across this zin.

Pepperwood Grove has vineyards across California, into South America, in Europe and even out as far as Australia.  And to be honest, when looking for a value wine, I don’t really care where it’s from.  I just want to have a bottle that’s inexpensive, that I can open whenever I want (even on a Sunday morning) and not have to worry whether or not I should have waited.  I just want to drink it. Now.

Moving on to the tasting: My silly father in law thought that he caught some black pepper in his first snort of this old vine zin.  He even went as far as to say that “…it was like opening a jar of peppercorns.”  After ridiculing him mercilessly for several minutes, I did agree with his secondary assessment of dark raisins and plums.  And maybe a hint of pepper, but I’m pretty sure that he just said that because it was all he could read on the label without putting on his glasses.

While there isn’t much that is really striking about this wine, it’s a very safe bet for your $7-$8.

Enjoy!
Ryan