The Black Chicken zinfandel takes wine where it’s rarely been before
In some 20 years of writing about wine, I’ve never tasted a wine that was drinkable that didn’t have both tannins and acidity. But there’s a first time for everything, as the Black Chicken zinfandel demonstrates.
That’s because the Black Chicken zinfandel ($43, sample, 15.3%) is all about fruit – luscious, burstingly ripe, sweet and rich and dark black cherry fruit. If you try hard – cock your head to one side and think about it while swallowing, maybe – you’ll taste some black pepper and maybe some baking spice. Let the wine sit for a bit, and there’s even some chalkiness on the back. But it’s hardly worth the trouble, because the Napa Valley fruit is so gorgeous that it demands all your attention.
But tannins? Nope. Acidity? Nope. How winemaker Tres Goetting does this is more than I can understand, but it works. This is a style of wine that makes me crazy, since it doesn’t consider balance worthy of consideration. But it’s worth tasting just to watch Goetting perform his magic.
And I enjoyed the Black Chicken zinfandel, with two caveats: First, though it’s not especially hot on the palate, you’ll feel the alcohol after a couple of glasses, and we didn’t finish the bottle. Second, that it’s more a curiosity than a wine to drink; the Limerick Lane zinfandel from the Russian Rivery Valley is more traditional and almost as pretty.
But if you want to wow your guests at Thanksgiving, and the price is in your range, it’s a fine choice. If nothing else, you can tell everyone you had a black chicken with your turkey.