Don't be Embarrassed to Drink White Zinfandel Wine
Aug 13 '01 (Updated Jan 06 '02)
The Bottom Line Some White Zinfandels are quite tasty. Best of all, they are inexpensive and make for a great party beverage.
Wine Reviewed: Barefoot White Zin, NV
Vinted and bottled by: Barefoot Cellars, Graton, Sonoma County, California
Right behind Chardonnay, the number two best selling wine varietal in America is White Zinfandel. This news should hardly be surprising, and this data is not lost on some of the biggest wineries in America -- who have almost all attempted to introduce some product in this varietal class to capture some market share.
White Zinfandel is popular for two primary reasons: it is generally inexpensive -- almost universally sold for less than $8 per bottle -- and it has a slightly sweet taste that makes for easy drinking ("gulping").
I, personally, am not a regular drinker of White Zinfandel wines, but I won't turn down a glass if offered, especially on a hot summer's day. Can't say that it is my favorite wine, but variety is a nice thing from time to time.
Barefoot White Zin
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To produce a light colored, "blush" wine from a grape as red (purple) as the Zinfandel, grapes are separated from their stalks and are left to macerate in steel vats (i.e., the fruit is left with its skin, and the purple skin color bleeds into the must -- the mix of juice and crushed fruit). This juice is circulated and pumped from the bottom of the vat back onto the grapes at the top of this mix to enrich the mixture with color, oxygen and mild tannins. When the must is drained, the grape skins and other solids are separated. The juice, now tinted by its contact with the grape skins, then undergoes a fermentation process.
The Barefoot White Zin I drank this past weekend was the first White Zin I tried in some months. This is a fairly light wine, containing only about 10% alcohol by volume, and it pours with a bright, blush pink color. Grape Links, Inc., the parent company for Barefoot Cellars winery, describes this wine -- on the bottle label's footnotes -- as having "the tropical flavor of pineapples, ripe peaches, and juicy strawberries. The zesty finish is clean and apple-crisp." These descriptors make this wine sound like fruit punch, and my actual tasting experience was not quite so over-the top fruity. Indeed, the flavors -- all there -- were subtle. Light. Nicely balanced. Taste leaned more toward a lighter blend of melon and yellow apple flavors. Finish was crisp, clean and not cloying. I don't think I've used the term "cloying" in any of my beverage reviews, but in this case, I will: this white zinfandel has a light, slightly sweet taste that is not cloying. This is actually a great White Zin, and and is actually quite gulpable.
Cloy / "to surfeit by too much of something, especially
something sweet, rich, etc. Adverb: cloyingly."
-- Websters New World Dictionary, Second Concise Edition.
This wine has won numerous awards... at least seven Gold Medals in recent wine tasting competitions, including:
+ Gold Medal, 1998 California State Fair -- where it was proclaimed as the "Best White Zinfandel in California" and the "Best of Class of Region."
+ Gold Medal, 1998 San Diego National Wine Competition
Price and Availability
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I purchased a 750 ml bottle of this wine for only $3.99 at Trader Joe's Market. That's a fantastic price and I have seen many varieties of White Zin wine selling for $5.99 or more in the supermarkets. This wine is available at most all Trader Joe's locations across the country, and I am beginning to see Barefoot products being carried by more and more supermarket chains.
Recommendations
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This is a great wine for hot summer days, and one that I certainly enjoyed today. It is an excellent apéritif wine when served well chilled. It is very, very gulpable, and is not a sipping wine.
No pretentious food pairings: this is a good party wine to goes well with sandwiches made with turkey, ham, or other cold cuts. If you are going to have a summer garden party, pick up a few bottles. Not everyone is going to want to drink an oaky or buttery Chardonnay, and you can save a few bucks by buying this very good quality and very attractively priced wine.
I really like this winery. They are producing some very good wines. Highly recommended!
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Epinions.com ID:
4-1-1
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 - Top 50 |
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Member: Tom Carr
Location: Southern California
Reviews written: 1091
Trusted by: 695 members
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Go U.S.C.!!!
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