March 4th, 2008
I have taken a Wine Blogging Wednesday sabbatical (lazyatical?) for the past few months and am so glad to be returning for Joel Vincent of Wine Life Today and Open Wine Consortium’s theme. His theme is simple: which wine do you relax with? Ironically Joel picked this theme without knowing that it would be chosen in the same month that he’d launch a brand new Wine 2.0 community site and his wife would have a baby girl. If anybody needs this theme, it’s Joel!
Relaxing is mindless, so the most relaxing wines require little thought. They deliver a big hunk o’lovin without a lot of complications. They are a warm embrace after a stressful day. I happen to love big, spicy, bold Zinfandels so when I want to relax, these are the treats that I go for. I can’t say that I have a specific bottle I crave, it’s more the varietal as a whole. Of course, the high alcohol content in most Zinfandels might play a small hand in the relaxation factor as well 
So for this month’s WBW, I’m tasting a Zinfandel that I had in my cellar, the Gnarlier Head 2005 Dry Creek Valley Old Vine Zinfandel. Gnarly Head, as part of DFV wines, actually won our 2007 Wine Star Award for American winery of the year. The wine got its name from the head trained vines in California. Dry Creek Valley is a phenomenal region for Zin so I anticipated big things.
When I first tasted this Zin it was a little muted and tight, despite decanting. But it opened up in the glass to reveal aromas of bright berry and cedar. The body is medium when I expected something luscious and full, so I’m a bit disappointed in that regard. I don’t know that this would be my top pick for a relaxation wine, but it was pleasant nonetheless.
What am I pairing it with? A three cheese stuffed rigatoni Lean Cuisine. Hey, if I can’t be honest with the wine blogging community, who can I be honest with? The rich pasta actually paired quite nicely. I sipped it while watching some classic Family Guy episodes, a very relaxing evening for sure.
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Ah, we chose the same varietal, though I don’t intend to post mine until tomorrow!