Jigar Wines Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley 2018

Seeing some readers come back for more of this bottle last week reminded us… to remind YOU… that one of our craziest deals in recent memory is still available. Somehow, for a mere $12.95, we have a single-vineyard, brightly juicy, utterly delicious Zinfandel grown in Sonoma County’s gracious mothership of craggy vines: Dry Creek Valley!

Crushed raspberries are the first thing we taste in this 2018 gem from Jigar Wines – an industry favorite for making their precise and enthusiastic efforts surprisingly affordable. That fresh red note smooths and deepens into blackberry preserves, then the plot thickens with languorous stewed plums and gleaming Luxardo cherries. Details of black peppercorn, vanilla, and toasty oak come into focus, dancing us into velvety tannins and a brisk finish. Fabulous! Absurd that it’s under $13 when you order two or more – and it would be extremely silly not to get a lot more.

Zinfandel is one of our favorites in the grape world. Heart-warming, rustic, satisfying, and, ideally, leaping out to surprise us with an almost Pinot-like fluttering of layers. We want a Zin that’s not too port-like in flavor or raspy in texture. This one is bright, clean, red-toned, and richly balanced – ding ding ding!

The fruit comes from the northern reaches of Dry Creek. The 9-acre Adams Vineyard is up on a hillside, where nights are cooler and hang time is longer. This gives the wine a nice dose of acid to round out its bodacious, jammy fruit. 2018 was a glorious “quarterback who’s also an A student” kind of boisterous, happily ripe, high-achieving growing season. Grab this deceptively cheap guy while we still have him!