2008 Woodenhead Zinfandel Mendonoma

Community Tasting Notes (5) Avg Score: 87 points

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Drankthewholebottle's profile
  • Report Issue

  3/27/2011 - Drankthewholebottle wrote: 87 Points

  Easy drinkin' and a good value.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View SonomaWineHead's profile
  • Report Issue

  2/1/2011 - SonomaWineHead wrote: 89 Points

  Best $10 wine I've ever had. Nice dark blackberry, spice on the finish.

  1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Drankthewholebottle's profile
  • Report Issue

  1/29/2011 - Drankthewholebottle wrote:

  Good enough to buy 4 more bottles! There's enough alcohol (15.2%) to let the fruit pop more than any other sub $12 wine. With respect to price category, it's a 90. Tasted blind, I'd consider it crap. There're never any great wine deals at Trader Joe's, because they buy what everyone else passed on and still need to profit.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comments (1)

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View KurtK's profile
  • Report Issue

  1/28/2011 - KurtK wrote: 89 Points

  Incredible value for 10 bucks! Lot's-o-fruit. Actually a good example of the Woodenhead style. I'm not sure why they needed to let this go...

  1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View smokeshowing's profile
  • Report Issue

  1/26/2011 - smokeshowing Likes this wine: 82 Points

  Making my way down the wall of wine at Trader Joe's and what do I see? Yup, it's a Zinfandel from Woodenhead! Whoa, but wait a dang second...does that tag really say $9.95? Holy smokes, it sure does! Now that's intriguing to be sure, but is this real life? Is there really a wine made by Nikolai Stez that retails for this absolutely ridiculous price?
  
  Well now, once I was able to shake off the disbelief I had to contend with that building sensation - you know the one - when you find a $20 on the sidewalk and there's no one around to contest your windfall. On closer examination I see that this is a 50/50 split of Zin from Mendocino and Sonoma, which in and of itself means very little to me, bit that does lend itself to a nifty little name like Mendonoma. At this price it's time to jump right in! Grab a few bottles, look about as though you are in some way pulling one over on old Trader Joe.
  
  Safely back home it's time to hide my treasure from the wife since I just know she's gonna come at me with that accusation disguised as a question, "So how much were these bottles of Woodenhead?" As tempting as it might be to display these bottles prominently, knowing full well they were dirt cheap, I opt to store them in my converted closet cellar. Three days later and it's been an all day effort to prepare pulled pork sandwiches for dinner. Just the right foodstuff for that little Zin I squirreled away.
  
  Pop-and-pour and it looks a little light in the glass. Nose inserted in glass and there are some of the classic Zin notes of ripe black cherries. It's starting to sink in that this is not a blockbuster of a wine, but is actually kind of subdued. First couple of sips and those black cherries that came across on the nose are front and center on the palate. There's also just a hint of spice, kind of like cinnamon and a bit of vanilla. Overall, this is a simple, but enjoyable Zin.
  
  So where does that leave me on the satisfaction scale? This is a solid C+ of a wine. If I take into consideration the price, I gotta bump that C+ up to a solid B. With a passing grade I can comfortably say that this is a nice midweek sipper perfect with pasta or burgers. Definitely recommended for the frugal wine enthusiast. Way to go Trader Joe's and Woodenhead!
  
  http://fearnowine.com/

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.