Thursday, December 16, 2010

New Hampshire Wine Man Plunging Head-On Into Plungerhead Zin


Plungerhead Lodi Old-Vine 2008 Zinfandel, $11.70-$15.80, 79 points, is dark red in color, and hits you in the nose with strong vegetative aromas (A Negative for me) and with heavy out-of-balance flavors of licorice and stale dark-berry (my guess is that my displeasure is showing).
Plungerhead reminds me of a more spicy ECCO Domani delle Venezie 2007 Merlot, $8-$12.00, 79 points, which I found to be a bitter almost sour Merlot.
Plungerhead has a Dry Creek Zinfandel , which is a better appellation for Zinfandels in my opinion, (not yet tasted), than is the Lodi appellation. Keep in mind that many wine enthusiasts like the Lodi Zins equally or better, but I will stand by my assessment.
Standing alone in the wine-tasting world and criticizing a wine company's "pet" may be frowned upon, but if you buy this wine, come across this blog, and agree that this is a No-buy wine, let me know; all others may-NOT comment, because I've already read several reviewers that liked this wine (3.5 out of 5). Wow! Another wine I wouldn't drink if it was the last wine in the world!
Since I bought this wine, since no one is paying me to gloss-over my opinion, and since this is my palate, I'm telling you what I really think. I hope you, the buying public, will benefit from my experience.
Now, what to do with a wine I don't like?
First, I'll cork it, put in the refrigerator, keeping it handy to deglaze my stainless-steel pans.
Secondly, I might try and combine it with another OK wine (I've done this before) that is not expensive, but counters some of that unpleasant bitterness (Usually Beringers Founders Estate Merlot).
Trying different things is a good idea and may just save me and you some money.
Let me know what you have done.



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2 comments:

  1. From what you described about the Lodi, I would have to agree with you. Having said that, I don't mind Lodi Zins or their other wine in general (although they've got Pinot Noir now, which I'm trying to get my head around). Regarding this wine, I might first wonder if it was a bad bottle, but maybe it's just not a well-made wine.

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  2. Claire Uncorked, sorry for not emphasizing enough the usually in: Dry Creek AVA USUALLY makes a truer Zinfandel varietal; you are absolutely right that there are worthy wines from Lodi. Thanks for you thoughtful comment,
    Dennis

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