2008 Seghesio Home Ranch Zinfandel

Beautiful blackberry and spice flavors punctuate the 2008 Seghesio Home Ranch Zinfandel, Alexander Valley. Uncommonly dark color for this varietal, the nose is full of blackberry, black cherry, sweet licorice and black pepper. Obvious French oak treatment. More structured than most Zinfandels, the wine shows wonderful tannins and acidity; perhaps even enough to merit aging for a few years. Long, dry, powdery finish. This is from a vineyard planted in 1895 and it shows every bit of its old vine heritage. Still, a bit pricey at $38.99

Dinner was smoked lamb spare ribs. For these, I rubbed the rack of lamb ribs with my general purpose spice rub and smoked them for about an hour over charcoal and cherry wood chunks. Then I wrapped them in foil and continued to cook them for a few hours on the grill over low heat. They were finished with a quick brushing of Meat Mitch Whomp! BBQ sauce. A nice pairing as the fruit of the wine really balanced the considerable heat of the sauce.


General Purpose Spice Rub
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup kosher salt
4 tablespoons fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon fresh ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder