Recovering wine hoarder story ahead!

Over the weekend I decided that I really needed to make good on my New Year’s Resolution to eat less takeout. I absolutely love cooking, but my partner and I had gotten into a habit of just eating out all weekend. This isn’t a bad thing if we were going out and trying new restaurants, but to be honest it often resulted in us sitting in the couch in our PJs chowing down on bulk dumplings. Look, it’s not the worst way to spend a Sunday night, but I decided it was time I try and save us some money, as well as trying out new recipes. To ease the pain of losing my delicious dumplings, I’ve decided to use these cooking nights as an excuse to drink our fancier wine. This is how I found myself enjoying the Silver Palm Zinfandel.

I’ve really liked getting back in the kitchen and trying recipes that I’ve been meaning to try for a while that take a little too long for weekday cooking. But it definitely makes the exercise much better when I get to head into our wine room and pick out a delicious bottle that’s a little more special to go along with it. You see, my partner and I have a habit of buying a lot of wine that we don’t drink. Unlike most wine buyers, we also don’t buy the same wine in bulk, reducing the cost-effectiveness of our wine buying. It also frustratingly leads to a bit of hoarding. You know there’s only one bottle of that wine so you don’t want to open it. I mean what if it’s really good?

Wherefore art thou, Zinfandel?

So despite my hoarding ways, on the weekend we opened a bottle that I had been hiding away for quite some time now. I found it at our local bottle store and bought it instantly for two reasons. The first being that I had only ever seen it in a very boutique bottle store in Melbourne, tried it, loved it, and thought it was lost to me forever. But the reason I bought it is that I am absolutely obsessed with Zinfandel. I actually can’t believe this is my first review of one!

For us Australians, Zinfandel is not a common variety. It is most common in wines from California, think Sonoma and Nappa Valley. I actually fell in love with it when we were there a few years ago. Actually, it was one of the first varieties I ever clung to after being on a wine tour. I tried the wines and I was hooked. Then I came back to Australia and realised that my addiction would not be satisfied by the lack of supply in the Australian market. So when I saw a Zinfandel I had to buy it.

The search lead me to Silver Palm Zinfandel

Problem is that because these wines aren’t well known in Australia, they are usually very expensive, and far out of my budget for drinking wine. So I’ve been quite careful with what I buy. I also found out that Primitivo is basically the same grape but from Italy, so my cravings were satisfied for a time by a couple more Italian wines. But I still crave those delicious Zinfandels I tried in California those many years ago.

So I found the Silver Palm Zinfandel 2012 at my local bottle store, and it was like a light from above shone on it. Before I knew it I had paid for it and I was off to pop it away for safe keeping. On Friday night I asked my partner to pick a wine and this was the one he chose. I almost told him to put it back, but then I decided that now was the time to drink my prized wine. So we cracked it open and naturally polished off the whole bottle over a bowl of pasta.

Why I love it

There are many reasons why I love Zinfandel, and the Silver Palm Zinfandel 2012 is a credit to this fantastic grape. Zinfandel wines are intense, heavy and full of spicy fruit flavours. They pack a punch the moment you try them, but go beautifully with food. The Silver Palm Zinfandel delivers on this and more, especially due to its age really bringing out smoky, leathery flavours.

This wine smells amazing. Honestly, you’ll find yourself going back for a good sniff more than once. I know I had my nose stuck in my wine glass for some time before trying. I think this is because it actually smells all dark and moody, with the combination of red fruit and smoky, spicy flavours. It’s like a wine version of the tall dark stranger.

The Silver Palm Zinfandel is absolutely incredible to drink. The fruity flavours you smell aren’t overpowering when you taste the wine and balanced by nice vanilla and oak flavours. It has a nice long finish and a nice balance of tannins. It makes a heavy wine not too overpowering to drink. Hence the fact we finished this bottle all too quickly.

What to enjoy it with

Being a heavy bodied wine, the Silver Palm Zinfandel is best enjoyed with food. The wine itself is quite rich so pairs beautifully with red sauces and meats. We had this with a chorizo pasta and it was incredible. You could also enjoy it with something slow cooked or a beautifully cooked steak. Really anything with rich, deep flavours will come to the party with this beautiful deep wine.

The final word

The Silver Palm Zinfandel 2012 is a great food wine and a perfect example of the Zinfandel grape. It’s perfect for lovers of a deep, heavy red, but also balanced enough that it doesn’t overwhelm the palate. You’ll be in good hands with this tall dark stranger, let me promise you that!

I think I enjoyed this wine even more the second time I drunk it due to a bit of age, so if you can get the 2012 it is drinking well now. But be warned this wine is hard to find, so if you do stumble across it, take my advice and snap it up while you can!