I am always up for a great Zinfandel and as I mentioned in yesterday's post, I received a bottle of Bradford Mountain Grist Vineyard Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel 2004 in the sample subscription from Gold Medal Wine Club.

This particular Zin has won several awards including:
•Critics Gold - 2006 Critics Challenge
•Double Gold - 2007 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
•Gold Medal- 2007 Grand Harvest Awards
•Gold Medal- 2007 National Women's Wine Competition

It was barrel aged for 16 months in European, French and American oak barrels; 40% new oak. The wine clocks in at 14.9% alcohol and retails for around $35. The winemaker describes it as such:

As you swirl this wine, aromas of zesty wild berries, chocolate mint, black liquorice, sweet tobacco and cedar waltz across the olfactory floor dancing their way to your brain. With a gentle kiss, the wine whispers, "taste me" and then the splendid decadence of pure mountain Zin floods the palate like a torrent of rain from a northern California winter storm. The wine is rich, yet lean, and brimming with concentrated boysenberry and mocha coffee flavors. The finish is long and luscious with tart berries and just the right balance of acidity and velvet tannin to give this opulent wine strength, beauty and charm.

Although I liked this wine very much, I didn't quite pick up on all of those subtle characteristics. I did pick up loads of cedar on the nose along with some dark fruit and a bit of anise. The aroma was deep and delicious, and the wine was a deep, rich, shade of red. The Zin is totally wood-dominated. Straight out of the bottle I could detect some spice, but mostly oak, oak, oak. It did open up quite nicely, though and after about 20 minutes it mellowed out, the fruit came up, and the wine started to shine. I served it with filet mignon topped with scallion butter and the match was great. Of course, I don't think you can ever go wrong pairing steak and Zinfandel, so I suppose that was an easy one for me.

I really think the Zin would have benefited from decanting. The flavors are tight and honestly I think it's a bit young, but it shows a lot of promise and another year or two in the bottle might allow the fruit to show up a bit more. If you decide to try it, definitely give it some time to breathe. Overall, a nice example of Dry Creek Zinfandel.