A Zinful Dinner

Back when Pris and I lived in McAllen I always tried to pick up Zinfandels for Pris and I to try and Pris never wanted to get them.  I kept reading about some very good wines, but there wasn't any interest on her part.  This was mainly due to some confusion about the wine itself.  Apparently she was confusing the deep red Zinfandel I wanted to buy with the sweet pink White Zinfandel that people usually drink when they are first starting out drinking wine.  Same grape, but two very different wines. 

The last Zinfandel we tried turned out to be a fairly sweet red from Cameron Hughes Flying Winemaker series, and we've pretty much stayed away since then.  However, our friend Kate Moore gave us a bottle of Seven Deadly Zins 2007 Zinfandel before she left to San Francisco, and we've been cellaring it ever since.  Pris had a really tough time deciding on a wine for dinner last night, but after doing a lot of research decided on the Zinfandel.

While the label says Zinfandel, this is actually a blend of Zinfandel, Petite Syrah, and Petit Verdot.  The wine is sourced from seven different vineyards in the Lodi Valley in California. Of course the dominant grape is the Zinfandel, but the mixing is superb.  This is a deep plum colored wine with excellent structure.  It has a fruity and spicy nose with a touch of leather.  The Seven Deadly Zins is full bodied with lush fruit and a nice spicy kick in the mid-palate.  Solid tannins provide a full finish to this wine.

Part of Pris' problem in deciding on a wine was the ever evolving nature of our dinner menu.  We'd pulled a couple of strips out of the freezer yesterday, but didn't want to go with just another steak and Cab review.  So last night was an all grilled menu.  There was the steak seasoned with my own rub which is a mix of garlic powder, house seasoning, creole seasoning, and fresh ground pepper.  We added a little surf to the turf with a couple skewers of shrimp seasoned with Fredericksburg Farm's spicy chocolate java seasoning.  I also grilled up some calabazas topped with queso fresco. Of course you need some type of starch so I brushed some olive oil on a few pieces of garlic, onion, parmesan bread from Breadsmith.  Desert was grilled peaches topped with vanilla ice cream and Fredericksburg Farm's Peach Amaretto Pecan Sauce.

The wine paired spectacularly with the grilled steak and shrimp.  The spicy and smoky quality of the wine was a perfect compliment to the spicy seasoning and smoke in the meats.  The wine also picked complimented the flavor of the chocolate java seasoning in the shrimp. It even went well as a contrast with the calabaza which was lighter and tended to cool the spice in the steak and shrimp. Pris' research really paid off, this is a great wine to pair with grilled food.  Even better, its versatile enough to pair up with the surf & turf which is no easy feat.  We didn't pair the wine with desert, but it was awesome.  Just putting that out there.

Like I said, we got this wine as a gift (thanks again Kate), but I've also seen it at both H.E.B. and Target.  It is a very accessible wine, and one I would consider a good value wine.  I think this particular vintage is off the shelves by now, but I'm sure they've got more to replace it. You can probably find this wine at some of your local liquor stores as well.  For more information on this wine you can go to: http://www.michaeldavidwinery.com/wines/7-deadly-zins/