Yesterday, I wrote about sharing a couple of bottles of Zinfandel that I had made three years ago over a Leonard Cohen concert broadcast on television. A few weeks ago, I was at the local LCBO (for those readers who do not live in Ontario, that would be the Liquor Control Board of Ontario store) where I found a “staff pick” – bottles of Cline Zinfandel. I knew that I would be opening up one of my bottles of Zinfandel (that cost me about $4.00) and wondered how it would stack up against this one that cost $14.00.

Well, the $14.00 bottle definitely was better than mine. The most noticeable difference was that the Cline had more “mouth feel” whereas mine in comparison was flatter. The aromas from the Cline were also stronger, and there were very nice vanilla notes that my Zinfandel did not have, probably due to no oaking. On the other hand, the colour of mine was exactly the same as the Cline Zinfandel, and the anise and blackcherry were a bit stronger.

All in all, I wasn’t disappointed in mine at all. I knew it hadn’t been fermented with the skins, had little exposure to any oaking, and when I was younger, I had drunk far worse stuff that cost me $4.00. I can’t afford to regularly buy $14.00+ bottles of wine, and my Zinfandel had the same gentle intoxicating effect I’m sure, as the $14.00 Cline.

But I think I am going to experiment more with oak in some of my wines that I plan to age awhile.

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