(Un)Risky Business: Rebecca De Mornay and Rancho Zabaco Zin
Posted on by Mark Oldman

While draining a glass of Rancho Zabaco “Sonoma Heritage Vines” Zinfandel at a friend’s barbecue, I was reminded of the scene in the movie Risky Business in which Tom Cruise’s character, Joel, is visited by a terrifyingly unsavory escort.

zinfandel bbq

After Joel rebuffs her (or is it him?), the escort recommends that he call a more enticing alternative, the lissome vixen played by Rebecca De Mornay.  “I want you to call Lana,” advises the escort.  “It’s what you want.  It’s what every white boy off the lake wants.”

Well, these days, when wine is the object, it seems like what everyone wants is a smooth, spicy, easily-located red that isn’t too hard on the wallet.

Like Lana, the Rancho Zabaco Zinfandel satisfies universal desires — and, suffice it to say, it is also a tempting companion for any train ride.

Nuggets to know:

1) A burly, exuberant, quintessentially American wine, Zinfandel is immediately likeable for its flush of berry fruit and hint of pepper.

2) When stalking good Zinfandel, remember the “4 R’s”: Ridge, Ravenswood, Rosenblum, and Rancho Zabaco

rancho zabacoProducer: Rancho Zabaco (Sonoma, CA)
Wine: Heritage Vines Zinfandel
Vintage: 2003
Cost: $11
Track it down: www.wine-club-central.com/detail.aspx?ID=6334

A lesson in likability, this lunar-dark, medium-to-full bodied wine delivers equal parts raspberries and blackberries, scents of vanilla, and a few turns of the pepper-mill.  The soft, rich, jam-infused finish earns it the wine lover’s equivalent of the video game “E” rating: fit for everyone.

Toro! Toro! Termes: Aching to be Unleashed at the Thanksgiving Table
Posted on by Mark Oldman

A brunchtime visit to Manhattan’s cathedral of fromage, Artisianal, introduced me to a rich, spicy red that’s just aching to be served with your Thanksgiving bird: the Termes 2003 from Spain’s Bodega Numanthia-Termes.

Nuggets to Know:

1) Termes hails from Toro, an oft-neglected wine district of northern Spain not far from the country’s two marquee wine regions, Rioja and Ribera del Duero.  An increasing number of tempting wines are emerging from Toro, in part because of the influence of energetic importers like Jorge Ordonez, who is personally involved with the production of Termes (as well as the winery’s more expensive Numanthia and Termanthia bottlings).

2) The grape in use here is Tempranillo (called Tinta de Toro by locals), Spain’s signature red-wine grape and the primary building block for the wines of Rioja and Ribera del Duero.

3) Termes comes from 30-year-old vines. Old vines like these produce fewer grapes, and those grapes are usually more concentrated, ultimately yielding wine that is more likely to have intense flavors.

thanksgiving redProducer: Bodega Numanthia-Termes (Spain)
Wine: Termes
Vintage: 2003
Cost: $23
Track it down: www.klwines.com/product.asp?sku=1017653

The nose is a heady swirl of blueberries and blackberries, joined by a trace of dark chocolate, while the taste is spicy, smooth, and lushly flavorful.  This is a full-bodied, likeable velvet-jacket of a wine that will please your Thanksgiving tablemates and marry well with cranberry sauce, spicy stuffing, and the roasted skin of turkey.