Well, it’s Tuesday again and we all know what that means! It is time for this week’s installment of how to survive “The Bachelor” (A.K.A. Trash TV).
Last night was a little different than in past weeks in that it turned into a girl’s night! Hooray! I thought that it was bad when I had to watch it with just my wife. Now I have to sit through two hours of Jake always taking his shirt off, 8 caddy women trying to get the next kiss and my wife and her friend chatting the entire time. Oh happy days! Because we had an extra pair of lips to support, I had to hit the cellar up for two bottles this week.
This week’s picks were the 2006 Elyse Howell Mountain Zinfandel and a 2007 Robert Craig Howell Mountain Zinfandel.
First up was the 2006 Elyse Zinfandel (only because I thought that the RC Zinfandel would need to breathe for a few minutes) which I purchased directly from their tasting room for $37.
The Elyse Zinfandel is a dark ruby color with aromas of earth, raisins and light pepper. On the palate I got flavors of plums, earth and white pepper. This is a well structured wine with medium tannins and smooth finish. I paired this wine is some spicy Thai food and it held up very nicely.
Would I buy/drink this wine again? Absolutely and I give this wine 3 out of 5 corks!
Next up was the 2007 Robert Craig Howell Mountains Zinfandel which was also purchased from the tasting room at around $50
The Robert Craig Zinfandel shows its Howell Mountain roots with aromas of black raspberry, white and black pepper. The palate has wild berry, pepper, warm spices which evolve into a great mid-palate. From there it all comes together with smooth supple tannins and strong finish that lingers around just enough at the end.
My wife and our neighbor both agreed that they liked this wine better than the Elyse. They both felt that the Robert Craig Zinfandel was just a bit better rounded than the Elyse.