Don’t bother trying to find this particular wine anywhere online, and that includes the Rosenblum Cellars website. It is the wine that doesn’t exist. Oh sure, you can find things on Rosenblum’s Appellations Series, or single vineyard zinfandels, but lord help you if you’re digging about information on their simple 2004 California Red Table Wine.

This Zinfandel definitely packs a punch. Expect intense ripe jammy berries (raspberry and strawberry) on the nose surrounded by warm cottagy/wooden-like smells. At the same time, this wine has an almost refreshing quality to it thanks to the 15.5% alcohol content. I believe I remarked that it would make an excellent nasal decongestant, if nothing else.

With lots of ripe berries on the tongue, balanced tannins and a sweet cherry finish, this wine displayed excellent finesse from start to finish. Much to my delight, the high alcohol content wasn’t as ‘in- your-face’ as might be expected.

However, about a glass of the way in, something horrible happened. The intensity of the ripe berries quickly became too sweet to bear and the ‘refreshing’ quality turned into menthol. The wine took on an almost medicinal quality, with tastes reminiscent of cherry cough syrup/drops. This wasn’t horrible per se, but it did put a cap on the amount we could drink during one sitting and tainted my impression of the wine from that point on.

We’re still not sure what to say about this one, it started out well enough but went downhill fast. Perhaps not the best wine to be paired with food, nor to enjoy in large quantities, but it would make a kick ass remedy for a head cold.

My Rating: I Wouldn’t Make Faces.

Erin’s Rating: I Wouldn’t Make Faces.