Are you a California Zinfandel fan? Have you tried Saldo Zinfandel 2018 yet?
Frankly, we are still looking for California Zin to fall in love with. To us, it’s like drinking red velvet cake dipped in chocolate. Often we find it a bit too sweet, too fruity, and too powerful. But we’re not giving up, and that’s what led us to Saldo Zinfandel 2018.
The Prisoner Wine Company
Saldo comes from the innovative Prisoner Wine Company that earned a “cult-like” following.
The Prisoner winemaking philosophy follows that same path since the start. Instead of growing their own grapes, they collaborate with growers from California’s best winegrowing regions and buys grapes from more than 100 select vineyards to craft their wines.
Chrissy Wittmann and her winemaking team visit each vineyard site throughout the year to assess quality and style and to plan for wines and blends they’re going to make this vintage.
To reflect their winemaking philosophy, they came up with a brand name for each grape variety. Chardonnay is the Snitch, Cabernet Sauvignon is Cuttings, a white blend – Blindfold, Merlot – Thorn, Red Blend – Dérangé, and Zinfandel called Saldo.
Saldo Zinfandel 2018
Saldo Zinfandel 2018 is a blend of Zinfandel grape from some of the premier sites in California. Hence, the name “Saldo.” According to the Prisoner Company website, it means “from here and there” in Latin.
Interestingly, we checked more than a few online Latin dictionaries, and we couldn’t confirm the translation. On the other hand, in Italian, “Saldo” means “balance.” It kind of makes sense as well, since they got fruit from different parts of California and blended 15% of Syrah and Petit Syrah to give it some structure. And yes, they can call it Zinfandel because there’s 85% Zin in the bottle. According to Californian law, the minimum varietal requirement to put that name on the bottle is 75%. The wine was aged in a combination of French and American oak barrels with 25% new.
Oh, well. Enough nit-picking! Let’s taste it!
What’s in a Glass?
We got precisely what we expected from Californian Zinfandel. The aromas of prune, blueberry, black pepper, and smoke jump out of the glass.
It’s a full-bodied voluptuous wine with plum-prune, blackberry, chocolate, coconut, and vanilla flavors.
Finish
We can some up our impression with four words – a loud-speaking crowd pleaser. It’s a fruit bomb with a good structure that you can have with rib-eye steak and chocolate dessert. Maybe even at the same time. It can be a meal on its own, it’s so rich.
Conclusion
Is it the Zinfandel we are looking for? Saldo Zinfandel 2018 is a definite contender and an excellent option for a specific occasion.
The trick is that while evaluating the wine, we always think about the food we can pair it with, and Zinfandel needs an equal partner. That’s why often it’s the wine of choice for spicy Indian food and South-Eastern cuisine. But Zinfandel has a more tempered side.
Did you know that Zinfandel was brought to America from Italy, and its native Italian name is Primitivo? But you wouldn’t be able to say it’s the same kind of wine if you tasted an average Zin with Primitivo side by side. They are quite different.
Primitivo is a bit friendlier to the food due to its lighter nature. Zinfandel is the meal on its own and requires the food with an equally robust profile.
We tried some excellent examples from both California and Italy. We didn’t get our socks blown off yet. But we are not giving up and gonna keep trying until we find the perfect Zinfandel or Primitivo. Preferably both.
What Zinfandel would you recommend to try, and why? What would you recommend to pair it with?