Certain things we want to have close at hand in anticipation of winter’s steady, unstoppable approach. Warm boots and warm gloves, warm coats and warm hats … and warm and comforting wine.
The wine should be generous and fruity, not overly complex and dry, and most certainly it should be red and modestly priced. All of these attributes are to be found in the generous, fruity, enticing zinfandel in Robert Mondavi’s Coastal series.
There are hints of ripe cherry and plum jam here, with the earthy and peppery undertones that make zinfandel such a pleasant companion to hearty stews, grilled sausages and red-sauced pasta dishes from linguine to lasagna.
This is one of those wines that tastes just as good sipped from a flat-bottomed bistro glass as from stemware. But the grapes come from vineyards along California’s North Coast, and they provide more definition and character for this $11.50 bottle than you will find in a varietal wine from the Central Valley.
