2000 Kempton Clark "Mendo Zin" (Mendocino County Zinfandel)

Mendocino County is one of my favorite appellations for Zinfandel. They usually feature penetrating ripe berry fruit with good, but not excessive acidity, sometimes undergirded with a fresh forest floor component.

This one has a bit of bottle age on it, which, with Zinfandel, doesn't really add complexity, but instead sort of shuffles around the existing flavor components to de-emphasize the fruit and bring out leathery, earthy scents. And while I usually like my Zins younger than 5 years old (I love the ripe fruit), this one has held up pretty nicely.

Ripe berries along with that Italian "winey-ness" on the nose. The ripe berries carry through in the mouth with a streak of leathery earthiness underneath. Full-bodied, with a medium long, slightly hot finish. 85. I'm not exactly sure where I got this one. I think it may have been Whole Foods on Bellaire for about $10, but don't quote me on that.