As you know from previous posts and tweets I was fortunate enough to be sponsored by BevMo to attend ZinFest in San Francisco which is put on by the Zinfandel Advocates & Producers.
To say that it was a good time would be a drastic understatement.
It was freakin’ awesome.
I had such a blast with my buddy Kris! The two of us together are what I call a super fabulous time! You can read her re-cap and see her awesome pictures from the event here.
A highlight of the week?
Well the Zinfandel of course. Zinfandel is growing in popularity by leaps and bounds. It is an intense grape known for making rich, dark, full-bodied red wine with a high alcohol content. And if you know me at all, that is what I love.
Rich.
Dark.
Full-bodied.
Bold
Red….red wine.
I love a kick-ass Zin.
The awesome thing about ZinFest was the variety of Zinfandels that were there. The Zins there represented the spicy, earthy, dark fruit Zinfandels as well as the fruit-forward, jammy Zinfandels. Although I tend to favor the spicy, earthy, dark fruit Zinfandels, I enjoyed both varieties.
Thursday night was Epicuria, which was Food & Zin Pairings. Talk about delicious. Local restaurants paired delicious food with Zinfandels from all over. I think I rolled out of there a good 5,000 calories later but it was SO worth it.
Below are the food and wine pictures from the Epicuria event. Any wine that is pictured here has the 100% approval stamp from me. As in, go out and buy it. You will not be disappointed. I promise.
Epicuria Food + Wine Pictures
Dry Creek Vineyard Old Vine Zinfandel
Grgich Hills Estate Napa Valley Zinfandel
Guy Fieri's Shashimi Won-Tacos. YUMMY
Storrs Lion Oaks Vineyard Zinfandel
Honey Roasted Winter Squash Bruschetta AKA Amazing & Delicious!!
J. Rickards Winery Old Vine Zinfandel
Chocolate Zifnandel Bark from Kollar Chocolates
Front and center cooking demo at ZinFest. #BadAss
Fact: I hold a special place in my heart for Ridge Wine. #AbsolutelyLOVE
But wait….I’m not done!
There is still the Grand Tasting at ZinFest on Saturday!
Yes….that’s right. The fun continues….
ZinFest Grand Tasting
Is that a baguette in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? Why yes, I ate an entire baguette while tasting wine on Saturday.
BevMo in the house!!!!!! BevMo was a sponsor for the Grand Tasting on Saturday!
More Dry Creek Vineyard goodness..Heritage Zinfandel.
Mauritson Winery ~ Rockpile Ridge Vineyard Zinfandel
Kokomo’s Mount Vineyard Zinfandel
And let’s close it out with a little more Ridge….yummy.
Due to the fact that all of these wines were delicious, expect to see individual wine reviews coming soon!
A HUGE big fat juicy kiss and THANK YOU to BevMo for sponsoring me to attend this event!!
Cheers!
Oh man, now I just want a glass (or bottle) of wine, right now!! What a great time and the food looks amazing too! WOW!
p.s. take me next time, please?!?!
It was amazing and the food was delicious! I love how well Zinfandel pairs with food.
Looks like a whole lot of wine, and I think I would have taken a whole bag of the bread! Glad you had so much fun!
Believe me, I thought about taking an entire bag. The bread was yummy!
This new and glam life you lead ….
Ha! I really do have the best job ever!
There were so many wines there! But, I did love the Rockpile Seghesio. Yummy
Seghesio was delicious as was the Rockpile. It’s hard to pick a favorite!
I have never tried a Zinfandel wine. My fear is that I won’t like it…. honestly that’s the way it is with most red wines. I usually stick with Riesling or Moscato, those are two that I know I love. I really should just go to the vineyards north of where I live for the weekend and do some serious wine tasting.
It’s totally fine to drink what you like! Zinfandel wouldn’t be a red to start with if you want to venture into trying red wines. I would start with a lighter bodied Pinot Noir!
It makes me sad that Zinfandel gives me a headache. Maybe I just need to try a good one.
I think you just need to drink a good one! They are delicious! If you can drink Malbec, you can drink Zinfandel.
What I love best about the Zinfandel love fest is that, if I say that I’m bringing a bottle of Zinfandel with me, it’s not anticipated that I’m bringing “the pink wine”.
I just finished my last bottle of Twisted Vineyards Zin last night . . . need more. It’s so very tasty.
Alright I made a list of some new wines to buy when I go to the store. Excited!!!!
This kind of event would be right up my ally! You got some great shots – and looks like SO much FUN!
“The Dragon” a Short Story by Princess Nagger
Clearly the message here is I need to drink with you more. Or just drink more.
Also, SMALL world… from Kris’ post: I know the wine brat! We’ve sailed together!
OK, I seriously should not have read this post while starving…the food looks amazing and the zin? Awesome! Glad you went and had such an awesome time!
I saw your pics on instagram and it looked fabulous!
Sounds heavenly. As a devoted zino, how could I not be involved in this?!
So glad I get to live vicariously through you
I LOVE Zin. LOVE it. Robert Rue Zin is my favorite!