Rosenblum Vintner's Cuvée Zinfandel XXXV

The last one of these that I had was XXXIV, and it was just not good. The XXXIII was beautiful, a steal for the price. This is better than its predecessor, however it still can't compete with XXXIII.

It has a lot of character, big fruit, some spice, some tannins, but by no means is it a "cellar for years" type of wine. Get a few bottles to keep handy. If you want to cellar it, keep it for a couple of years at the most. I had a couple of bottles of Rosenblum go bad, warning me that five years was apparently too long.

That caused me to consider that some wines should be enjoyed sooner rather than later. I often think long and hard about whether or not I should hold onto THAT bottle--you know the one, we all have at least one--and what am I really gaining by doing so?

Some of their wines may really work for your palate, however don't be disappointed if these are a turnoff. In my limited experience, I have found Rosenblum to be inconsistent. And I'm not sure if that is the store's fault for not storing them properly, or if the grapes are so wild they are growing and changing unpredictably in the bottle. I'm happy to conduct more research.


Bottom line: Drink it if you must. There is arguably better value for your dollar out there.