Silverdale, WA
This wine is made by a Napa producer from Amador County grapes, a region known for it’s Zins. This was the first of my wine sale buys that I opened, based on my love of Zinfandel and the comments of a couple of our readers.
Clear medium black cherry/garnet color; blackberry, black pepper, and a bit of cooked prune in the nose. First thing I notice in the mouth is sweetness that is likely from slightly higher alcohol (14%) glycerin and tons of sweet fruit; it almost tastes like there may be a bit of residual sugar too. This Zin is loaded with varietally spicy blackberry fruit and has a fairly long finish. It may last a few more years, but I believe it’s at it’s peak now…with perfect balance of fruit, oak, tannin, and acidity. It’s delicious and for my money, a GO Best Buy—especially at $3.19 a bottle (with the 20% sale discount). I’ve paid at least seven times this much for Zinfandels not even half as good. The only down side to this wine is the ugly, hard-to-read label. If you’re into Zin…go get some before it’s gone!
The magical world of wines from Grocery Outlet 
This wine is still drinking beautifully at 10+ years old. One bottle left and in hindsight I wish I had bought a case.
Opened my last bottle tonight. Very slightly hazy pale ruby and drifting toward dark rose’ color; I’m detecting a very slight musty corked aroma along with blackberry and faint cooked prune; in the mouth the corked flavors are there along with more blackberry and prune; decent tannin and structure and tons of fruit; except for the corkiness, this wine would be a completely delicious example of old Amador Zin.
Opened up my bottle tonight and have to agree, this is a pretty darn good bottle of wine. Soft and approachable right out of the bottle (after the Vinturi) without the need for decanting. I would have to say this was just as good as the Ravenswood Old Vin Zin we had with dinner last night.
Hi FFC! Do you remember what year and designation that Ravenswood Old Vines Zin was? 2005 Sonoma? Napa? Lodi? I’ve seen a couple 2005 vineyard designate Zins – the Belloni and the Old Hill – in my local stores and I’m curious about what other RW Zins are out there.
Is the Dios Triumph zin available available anywhere in the SF bay area? I bought some 2006 years ago and opened one recently. It was fantastic. Amador County zins are very different from Napa/Sonoma variety. This 2006 was lovely. Real finesse’, almost old French burgundy in style which is not uncommon in old CA zin of lower alcohol. Without question a real find. If you have some 2006 save a few bottles to open years down the road. This wine is the Boss.
The label? A disaster!!! Any smart graphic designer would NEVER print gold leaf ink on a muddy brown background. What was this winery thinking when the labels came off the press?
I have never seen this wine in No Cal.
Good to get your update on this Zin, connasewer. Because I reviewed the 2006 over three years ago, I’d be surprised if there was any around anywhere. And I’ve never seen another vintage of it at GO, so perhaps the winery is defunct. And I will add that, though I didn’t mention anything at the time, my cellar notes say that I opened two more bottles of the 2006 in April and August of 2013 and continued to believe that’s it’s not really a wine to hold for long. I felt that the cooked prune qualities I originally mentioned were more clearly emphasized…and beginning to detract from the overall flavors. However, I still have three bottles, so maybe I’ll just have to open another very soon. Also…remember to beware the possibility of bottle variation that lurks behind many bottles of GO wines!
Bought mine this week at Grocery Outlet at $3.99. Opened, tasted and will be back to buy more.
Sounds like you liked it! Thanks for the feedback, John.
Very little of this left on the shelf today at the Silverdale store…and I don’t know if there’s any back stock. So if you wanted to try it, better get down there!
Thanks for the review! I was actually starting to have buyer’s remorse for picking up a bottle of this, especially since it was $8.99 (pre-discount) at the Midtown Sacramento store. But now I can actually look forward to opening up this bottle 🙂
Wow! That’s a huge difference in price. Wonder if it could have been mispriced?? Sure hope you enjoy it.
I have noticed that some of the wines have big price differences. Remember that Bear Boat Pinot Gris a few months back? I recently bought a Viridian Pinot Gris for $1.99 only to see it rise to $3.99 after a few days. Maybe pricing is under the discretion of the franchise owner when they need to move inventory.
The Berkeley wine person has mentioned lowering prices. For example, the white Bordeaux I reviewed recently was $10 at Berkeley and $18 or $19 in Oakland. I think it’s a substantial wine easily worth the latter price in regular wine store, but one would obviously prefer to pay the lower price.
I know that sometimes when they get to the end of the stock they cut the price in half (or so). No idea who controls this decision. Last month I picked up the last 2 splits (375ml) of OZ Lillypilly Fiumara 7 Red Desert wine for $5; it had been $10. At another store 5 miles away it was still $10-11.
Back on topic, I may got back to GO for a few more bottles of this well above average Zinf. I still think it needs a little air (30 min, or Vinturi). Still a few cases at Lakewood WA.
Today I picked up an old (40 years plus) file cabinet for $10 that I figure can hold at least 80 bottles horizontal – deep so can do 2 rows/drawer (OK, there was some rust on the top, noted). Real sturdy, heavy. No light on bottles. Way cheaper than I could ever build an 80 rack.
I was wondering about prices myself. Today at the Lake Tahoe store, the Dios Triumph was $6.99 and I did not buy.
Incredible! I’ve got to think that if they see a product moving rapidly due to popularity (or super positive reviews on this blog…wishful thinking?), at some point they up the price, thinking it’ll all move regardless and make a higher proft. And I believe it must be the franchisee’s option. Any Grocery Outlet Operators out there who would like to identify yourself as such…and shed some light on your pricing?