Alexander Valley Vineyards "Sin Zin" Zinfandel 1997

Served With: BBQ

Five Things (before): bricked, TCA, blocked, oaky, musty

Five Things (after): balanced, juicy, integrated tannins, tobacco, long finish

COO: Alexander Valley, CA

Notes: Another "lost" wine that I found when re-organizing the cellar last month, I figured the Super Bowl (and BBQ) would be an ideal time to see if the wine had any mojo left. I had a feeling that this one was going to have some problems, and indeed, it did. A crumbling cork, musty, TCA, bricking -- all very bad signs. I had anticipated this by opening it 24 hours in advance to see where the wine was at -- it's better to find out ahead of time and get a substitute bottle ready just in case. After straining for loose cork bits and decanting, I decided to stuff three big wads of plastic wrap into the decanter in hopes that the TCA would be neutralized/absorbed -- I've done it in the past to bottles that I thought were hopeless and had salvaged most of them in this manner. However, this time it far exceeded my hopes, and brought the wine back to life completely. I was stunned at just how good the wine tasted afterward -- the balanced structure, tannins, the long supple finish -- and paired with the BBQ, it was a touchdown with a two-point conversion. ;)

Website: Alexander Vally Vineyards

Rating: Delecious

Tags: Alexander Valley, california, zinfandel, 1997, bbq