Once again we’re having a brief respite from the cold during February weather with a few days in fifties and sixties. I took advantage of the beautiful weather and grilled two KC strip steaks outside. To go with the salad and steaks I opened a bottle of Zinfandel 2013, from St. Helena, California called Predator. The appellation was a Lodi appellation. Their web site is http://www.predatorwines.com.

I was surprised when I opened the bottle and poured it in the glasses. The wine was much lighter in color than most Zinfandels I’ve tasted. The color was a lighter red more like the color of a Cabernet or a Pinot Noir and you could almost see through it than like the darker red almost purple denser color of a Zinfandel. It had a smoky aroma no fruit smells at all. I could taste hints of tobacco and the smoky taste more like a Syrah. The wine was dry with a medium to full finish. There was a bite at the end with a smoky tobacco finish.

I liked it, just a bit thrown off hoping I was getting a big jammie Zinfandel and ended up with a Syrah. I’m not giving up on my search for the perfect Zinfandel, but I am beginning to wonder if I’m the only one really likes the big jammie Zinfandel. It seems that are more of the drier Zins out there than the jammier ones.