Each week I pick out one wine to highlight as my wine of the week.  This wine may be an outstanding wine, a great value or just something very interesting.

 

 

 

Overview

I’m always on the lookout for value priced quality wines.  When I saw an Oakville Zinfandel on the local wine store’s shelf for under $20, I had to grab a bottle.  How often do you see a wine from a specific AVA in the Napa Valley that can be opened on a week night without blowing the budget.  This must be a brand new release since the winery’s website is still featuring their 2011 vintage in their current releases.

 

I’ve had a couple of Pinot Noir wines produced by the winery and they all delivered superior quality for their selling price.

 

Here’s what the winery says about their “Gold Series” wines:

Our Gold Series wines are the best of the best wines we produce, wines to sip and savor.  Produced in very limited quantities from grapes hand-selected from premier vineyards in California’s Napa Valley, Michael Pozzan Gold Series Wines may vary from year to year.  We currently only produce Gold Series in Zinfandel and Pinot Noir.  We will soon be releasing our latest vintage of Back Barn Zinfandel, a single-vineyard Oakville appellation, and the sole Gold Series varietal to be released in 2010.

 

The Winery – in their words

The pleasure of good wine is not just about balanced flavors, a fragrant nose, or lush colors.  It’s also about the moment when that first sip is taken, with family or friends, over favorite foods or during special occasions.

 

Michael Pozzan creates wines for moments like those, wines that capture the best of the varietals he blends, vintage after vintage.  His long-time experience with growers from premier Napa and Sonoma vineyards allows him to seek out and then hand-select exceptional fruit each growing season.  Michael then works closely with winemaker Richard Bruno to craft those grapes into stylish wines you can enjoy every day, or serve with great pride at those events in your life that deserve something special.  These are wines of high quality and exceptional value — wines you’ll want to share with those you love, and with those who love wine.  Michael Pozzan Winery currently produces 125,000 cases per year and distributes wine under four labels — Michael Pozzan, Annabella, Dante and Marianna — in select markets throughout the United States.

 

 

The winery’s website has a map that shows the states where the wine is distributed that is available by clicking here.  The map is out of date since it does not show the wine is distributed in Wisconsin, but it most certainly is in at least one store in the state.  The link also has the winery’s contact phone number and e-mail address.  This is a value priced wine that is definitely worth a bit of effort to track down.  Did you miss the part about this being a single vineyard Zinfandel from Oakville?

 

Much more information on the winery and their different labels is available by clicking here.

 

 

 

2012 Michael Pozzan Winery Zinfandel Back Barn – Oakville Cuvee – $16.19

This is a 100% Zinfandel from a single unnamed vineyard in the Oakville AVA.  I couldn’t find any of the technical specs for this vintage but the previous vintage was aged 14 months in French oak.

 

The wine has a very manageable 14.1% alcohol by volume and the bottle is sealed with an agglomerated cork.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a dark ruby to purple color.  The enticing nose has brambly berries, black pepper, stony minerals, dead wood embers, candied violets, baking spices, vanilla bean and a touch of bittersweet chocolate.  This has medium body with moderate tannins and good acidity.  On the palate peppery berries and charred wood come through first with minerals and spice coming in on the back end.  The finish has good length with dark chocolate and a candied floral note popping out.  This is a keeper for well under $20.  (92 pts)

 

 

 

Connect with me

You can follow me on Twitter for more wine info, potential food pairings, and an occasional recipe or two.  Be warned, I’m also a sports fan and there are occasional Pittsburgh Penguins, Steelers, and Pirates tweets.  I attended the University of South Carolina, so during football season, there will also be some Gamecock posts.

 

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Cheers!

 

 

This is original to CliffsWinePicks.com.  Copyright 2014 Cliff’s Wine Picks.

All rights reserved.

 

 

 

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Here is a link to a YouTube video of me getting “coal” from Santa for being named the “Nicest Person in Social Media” in 2012.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOvQTeGR3-c

 

 

 

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Cliff’s Wine Picks mentions or other posts

Here are posts, newsletters, blogs or other articles that either mention this site or that I have written:

 

Click here or on the “Cliff’s Wine Picks On Other Sites” link in the top right corner to see links to other sites that either have my reviews, my thoughts or other posts I have written.

 

 

 

Remember to support your local wine store!

 

 

 

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Notes – I use the “official” Cellar Tracker name for the wines.  I use Cellar Tracker to help manage and organize my cellar.  I highly recommend checking it out at www.cellartracker.com.  Loading you existing cellar is a lot less intimidating than it would first appear.  There is a good chance 99% of your wine is already in the system, so you generally only need to enter part of the wine’s name and the system will find it for you.

 

 

Prices noted are the prices I paid at the time of purchase.  I don’t shop around to find the best prices, but my local store is usually VERY competitive.  I generally get case discounts, and since I work there part time, I get a 5% discount.  Wines purchased direct from a winery do not include any shipping charges.  None of the prices include the sales tax.

 

 

All wines that were sent to me free of charge to sample will be noted and I will show suggested prices when available.

 

 

 

Cheers!