Happy Labor Day Weekend! A three day weekend is just what I needed and as an added bonus Mitch had Saturday and Sunday off too. That meant we could do some exploring around some of the state parks and other sites. After spending the day around the Puget Sound we came home gave the dogs a much needed bath in Mitch’s tub not mine then settled in for dinner and wine. Lots of wine.

Since we still don’t have a grill, I decided to make Sautéed Chicken, pasta and a Marinara sauce. I made a salad and opened a bottle of Zinfandel to go with the chicken. The wine was a Sonoma County, California Zinfandel from Marietta Cellars. This was a 2010 vintage and had 15.3% alcohol. You can find them at www,mariettacellars.com. I bought the bottle for under $15 and had my fingers crossed in my long suffering search for a great Zinfandel. This time I was not disappointed.

The wine was a dark reddish purple color in the glass and as soon as I stuck my nose in the glass I smelled blackberry jam, not a hint of alcohol as is often the case with a high alcohol content wine. The first taste was a hint of sweetness, then the blackberry jamminess came bursting in my mouth as I swished it around. I could detect a hint of woodiness on the finish. The wine was dry, soft and smooth with a full lingering finish. The blackberry jam flavors complementing the chicken and spicy marinara sauce well.

This is definitely a wine I will buy many bottles of on my next wine shopping excursion.