If you are visiting us for the first time, Welcome! The Wine Spies feature one exceptional wine each day – and we only bring you wines that we ourselves seek out and love. Always, the wines are great. Sometimes greater than great, as is the case with today’s wine from WINERY.

Mission Codename: Operation End Bad Zin

Operative: Agent Zin

Objective: Stem the insurgency of bad zinfandel by going Guerrilla in Sonoma County, and recover a great Zinfandel for under $25

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Wine Guerrilla

Wine Subject: 2005 Forchini Vineyards “Extreme” Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel

Winemaker: The Wine Guerrilla (an obvious psuedonym but we cannot reveal his true identity)

Backgrounder:

Don’t let the lack of Zinfandel wines here on The Wine Spies fool you. We love a great zin as much as the next agent. The problem has been in finding zins that we love enough to present to our Operatives. We decided to employ guerrilla tactics to find our latest zin, which led us to (GASP) theWine Guerrilla, whose Forchini Vineyards “Extreme” Zinfandel made us instant loyalists. Read the Mission Briefing below, following these tasting notes:

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Garnet color to blood red with great clarity. This wine present its legs in a way that I have never seen: After swirling, the wine bunches upin fat clumps at the top of the class and then slowly runs dwon the glass, 3 or 4 legs to a bunch

Smell – Fresh mulch and brown spice with deep plum and dark berry tart

Feel – Initially wet and grippy at the front of the tongue, then warming and drying at the back of the mouth

Taste – Overripe stonefruit with blackberry, spice, acerola cherry and lightly toasted oak

Finish – UNIQUE! Starts off slow, then accelleratesin a rush of flavors that peak quickly and then taper off with mild tannins and a semi-dry feeling

Conclusion – For fans of great Zinfandel, this wine is a no-brainer. Its got unique aromatics, mouthfeel and finish, with flavors that don’t overpower you as some Cali Zins are apt to do. This is an easy-drinker with enough complexity and unusual qualities to make this a great ‘talk about it as we drink it’ wine. We’d declare this wine a winner even at a higher price. At our special price today, its a sure thing.

Mission Report:

The name, “Wine Guerrilla,” reflects a unique approach to winemaking and marketing. Having begun as a broker of fine small-production artisinal wines, Wine Guerrilla brings together a vision of a reasonably priced premium wine with a passion for California’s native grape, zinfandel, a knowledge of the Sonoma region and existing relationships with many of the county’s best-known growers. The result is something special. Wine Guerrilla operates on a singular mission: Finding the very best zinfandel grapes, and crafting wines worthy of the grape’s unique characteristics, and introducing those wines to the public. And eliminating the final barrier to instant wine-drinking gratification, Wine Guerrilla wines are bottled with easy-to-open screwtops.

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The location of the world famous Forchine Vineyards can be seen in this satellite photo.