2015 Sidebar Red Field Blend
Russian River Valley, CA
Regular Price $29.99
Sale Price $23.99
Sometimes, all that you want from a wine is some fun. Sometimes, the incessant swirling and slurping from the so-called experts is enough to make you go mad. Sometimes, you don’t want to hear about points, and age-worthy-ness and food pairings. Sometimes, all you want is a wine that tastes good.
I hear you.
This wine’s for you.
Zinfandel was once thought of as the iconic American grape. The (red) wines from the vineyards planted in the late 19th century were ripe and juicy and brash and over-the-top and frankly, delicious. Then ‘ripeness madness’ (critics, who still don’t understand wine, thought that since ripe grapes made better wines, then even riper grapes must make the best wines) happened and the rich and burley old vine Zins became overly alcoholic and hollow and oak-ridden and expensive. So we stopped buying Zins. They had become one-dimensional caricatures of themselves. No fun at all.
This wine is a throwback. In a good way.
First of all, it’s a field blend, meaning that there are differing grapes in it, all produced from the same vineyard. OK, it’s mostly zin, but that’s unimportant. Secondarily, its from the (cool-ish) Russian River Valley, so the grapes won’t be excessively ripe (sorry, critics). Ergo, the wine will not be excessively alcoholic (are the critics in it just for the buzz?). Finally, it does spend time in oak, but OLD oak, so the wine is seasoned by the oak rather than flavored by it.
But none of that matters. This is a wine that used to be the staple of the North Coast, before ripeness and sugar and oak made all the Cabs taste exactly the same and all the Zins taste terrible.
Its bold, bright, fruity (not sweet, like Napa Cab or Apothic) and a bit gnarly. A bit untamed. Unfussy for sure. A wine for a burger. Or BBQ. Or pizza. Or a just as it is. A wine for fun.