First thing first, how beautiful are the Wine Guerrilla labels. We know…pretty surfaces say nothing about the juice inside, but really, you can’t help but ooh and ahh over the dreamy, feminine Paul Klee-inspired paintings of semi-nude muses. And such lovely images for a grape that is often described as meaty, over-bearing, too alcoholic, masculine. Are the clever folks at Wine Guerrilla trying to tell us a different story?

Recently We enjoyed two different Wine Guerrilla zins over a perfectly grilled sirloin with a few friends. The smokiness of the meat and the deep, earthy, dark berry flavors of the wine were a fantastic compliment. We didn’t take notes, but a common comment was, “Is there more wine?”

No, We answered, secretly holding back two bottles to taste side by side, in a more serious-taking-notes setting. We were curious if We could taste the difference between two wines from the same region: Dry Creek Valley. One of the wines was labeled as such and the other from “Cofffaro Vineyards, Old Vines.” We asked our wine novice friend G Zamora to taste with Us. Or rather, he asked to be a part of our tasting.

A cool thing about Our young friend Zamora is his openness to trying new things…especially booze. Lately he’s been exploring wine. Just a few months ago he brought a bottle of Jameson’s to a party, but the last two gatherings it’s been wine. And not wine from the corner store (although We have nothing against this…Hello, Big Mac’s Mondays), but from a wine shop. Not only that, He asked for help with selecting a wine. This can be intimidating stuff for a young man who up until a year ago drank nothing but Corona Light and will probably be carded for another decade. Needless to say, We said, Of course…taste with Us.

So here are Our takes on two zinfandels, both from Dry Creek Valley, both from Wine Guerrilla, both FANTASTIC (oops…spoiler).

Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley, Wine Guerrilla 2008 (sample, retails for about $22)

She said: The color is deep, opaque purple-y garnet. On the nose blackberry juice with a hint of spice and wood. Quenching with medium tannin. Not hot, despite the 15.7% alcohol, rather the wine is fresh and lively and also not over burdened by fruit. Some tar and coffee with the tartness of raspberry and boysenberries. Really terrific and easy to drink alone, but imagine it would be a delicious accompaniment to grilled meats and be a good food wine in general. Greatly enjoyed it.

He said: Deep purple, glassy and opaque. Much more zing and fruit on the nose than the “Old Vine” reviewed below. Cherry, earth, tobacco, cola, cedar and tar on the nose. In the mouth it’s tart and a little chalky. Like the “bottlecaps” candy. Also some wood texture, like chewing on a toothpick and a waxy lipstick-y feeling and taste, even. Really good.

Zamora said: It’s a purpley-red color. The smell is more fruity than the old, but is still intense. It was light and easy.

Zinfandel, Coffaro Vineyards “Old Vine,” Dry Creek Valley, Wine Guerrilla 2008 (sample, retails for about $35)

She said: The color is identical to me to the Dry Creek, but in the nose has more intense blackberry flavors, like a syrup to pour over pancakes; also cassis and cedar. On the palate there is intense fruit in the beginning that leads to medium/high tannin–lots of structure. Some bramble/earthy flavors mixed with blueberries, mushroom, and vanilla bean. Really great, again. Not sure I prefer one over the other, but they are different: the straight Dry Creek is more fresh, the Coffaro more mellow and earthy. Both a delight.

He said: Same color as the above. Cola, maybe prune juice-Dr. Pepper, earthy, cherry and musty on the nose. (I also agree with Her on the pancake syrup.) In the mouth it’s creamy cola with a little vanilla. This one is 15.6% alcohol, but not high heat. I can, however, feel it on the roof of my mouth which I burned on pizza at the W Hotel last night. Full-bodied, tannins throughout with some weight on the mid-palate. Really, really good.

Zamora said: The same purpley-red. At first smell was just intense. Later the smell reminded me of butterscotch. The taste reminded me of incense. It tingled the tip of my tongue.

This week on Wine Web Wednesdays He wrote, “There are a lot of things I hate about Twitter…” but here is something We love about it: connecting with people like Erika Kerekes. We’ve been following her for a while on Twitter (and you should too) and were intrigued by a tweet she posted a couple of weeks ago:

Hell yeah, We do…

A few DM’s later and We got ourselves an invitation to a tasting at Pourtal, a wine bar we had been reading about in Santa Monica. Their by the glass program that involved a fancy “enomatic” machine that kept bottles fresh and allowed tasters to try rare, unusual, and expensive wines (along with more common, reasonably priced wines) by the ounce intrigued us. Dominus? By the glass. Oh yeah, we’re there.

Our date was set for Janurary 26th. It was a rather gloomy, rainy night but we braved the traffic from Her lovely Silverlake pad to the Westside. We arrived a bit early and felt haggard from the drive, so it was very nice to walk into such an inviting, warm spot with a friendly host.

The bubbly demeanor of the bartender inspired us to have a glass of Champagne and a few snacks before Erika arrived. The Rare Wine Company’s “Le Mensil” Champagne was gorgeous and a rarity to see on a wine list. It paired incredibly well with the creamy, rich burrata and stuffed grape leaves we chose from their menu. The rich snacks complimented the yeasty yet refreshing wine.

Every time the door to Pourtal would swing open, we stared…was it Erika? Having only exchanged a few tweets and messages, we weren’t sure if we’d recognize her just from her avatar. It had been a couple of weeks since we had set the tasting date, and she admitted:

Luckily for us all, the place wasn’t too crowded, so when she arrived we took our last gulps of the tasty Le Mesnil and walked over to make our introductions (and exchange names). Erika is a delight and easy to talk to (which may explain why We did so much of it). We exchanged our backgrounds in food and wine and then got down to what we were there for: tasting wine.

The night’s theme was Zinology, consisting of a zinfandel, and, as the very knowledgeable wine steward Helena explained, two of their close “couzins:” primitivo and palvac mali. It would be an old world/new world slurping session matched with some house made treats. Helena guided through the tasting with a short spiel before each tasting.

Our new friend asked us, out of earshot of Helena, if We could tell if a wine “expert” was bullshitting. (Although Erika might not have used that term.) She replied “yes…usually I know at least something about what is being tasted or the region that I can tell when they are using the right or wrong language.” He admitted that He didn’t know enough about wine to know if they were bullshitting or not, “…but I can read bullshit pretty well.” She assured them both that Helena was right on the money and the bonus was that she presented the information in such a non-pretentious, friendly, and easy to understand way.

Our notes from the tasting are below. She had explained to Erika the rules We have been following when tasting: make note of the color, swirl the wine and take some deep sniffs, slurp, swallow, and savor…and no talking. Wait a few moments and then compare notes. In general we followed this method.

Plavac Mali, “Peljesac Peninsula,” Dingac Winery, 2007 (Croatia)

She said: Translucent around the edges, slight brown tinge. On the nose: licorice, tar, some kind of spice like allspice/nutmeg, and brambly earthy notes. Soft, medium tannins in the mouth. Earthiness but not many berry or other fruit flavors. Would not guess the wine was zinfandel related. Whole mouthfeel is soft and pleasant, uncomplicated. Paired with Cypress Hill goat cheese which was dried and slightly crystallized. Nice pairing. The cheese added richness to the wine. Found it amusing the front label declares in prominent type: “Quality Dry Red Wines.”

He said: Translucent and watery around the perimeter, no idea what color; it’s dark, and to repeat, I’m colorblind. Right away there is licorice on the nose, followed by baking bread, earth, and that smell you get when opening a bag of balloons. Very light bodied in the mouth and dirty, in a good way. Light to medium tannins. A little heat in the finish with a short aftertaste. Easy and uncomplicated, nice with the cheese. Wouldn’t necessarily serve it, but would definitely drink it.

Primitivo, “Rudiae,” Vigneti Reale, 2006 (Pulgia)

She said: Dark, purplish red. Nose reveals dark red berries, raspberries, cassis, tar, licorice. Definitely smelling more like a zinfandel. In the mouth there is a kind of heaviness on the palate. Hints of white pepper, medium high tannins. Flavors of cassis, dark fruits, prunes. The finish is hot and a bit sharp and acidic. Bottle reveals it is over 14% alcohol. Overall a very drinkable wine with some umpf. Matches surprisingly well with the spanakopita, but that’s probably because the spinach has been baked with so much butter and really nice not too salty feta. They make the cheese in house, we were told. Could have just a couple of hunks of it with the wine.

He said: Guess what? I don’t know the color, and didn’t note it so I may have not even tried. On the nose is black cherry, blackberry and what I think is some kind of creamy pastry; smells like Paris. Much more fruit than the previous wine. The nose gives no hint of the pepper and spice in the mouth. And, this will get you drunk: 14% alcohol. Hello. Light tannins and spice, spice, spice… I like it. 

Zinfandel, “Clockspring,” Mountain View Vintners, 2006 (Amador County)

She said: Deep, opaque red purple color. Similar nose to the previous wine: cassis, tar, licorice, dark berries. Really big mouthfeel; a bit cloying and syrupy. Spice, pepper, root beer flavors. Medium to high tannin. Lingering finish of Cassis and licorice. A bit to big, rich, and candy like for my taste. Matched with a delicious pork belly sandwich that had hints of orange. Good pairing, again.

He said: No color again, get used to it. Cherry on the nose with light licorice. This wine is more elusive than the last one; but maybe that’s just because the last one got me kind of drunk. Maybe a little yeast on the nose here too. It’s very creamy in the mouth, like cream soda. And peppery, like Dr. Pepper. The pork belly sandwich was great. This was my least favorite of the night, but it was still good.

Sipping our last drops of wine, Helena brought out some small vials to test our smelling capabilities. For the first round we both got 3 of 4 right, but failed miserably on the second round; 0 of 4. The power of suggestion is just that: powerful. On the first round three of the scents had been mentioned at some point during our tasting. The second round consisted of smells that were nothing like the wines we tasted. It was challenging and very fun. Where do you buy those little vials of smell? We want some.

We all had a terrific, tasty time.

Thank you to Helena for being our educator for the evening. And thank you Pourtal: We loved it. Everyone was warm and welcoming (and it actually seemed sincere), both food and wine were tasty. We will be back; it’s a very good reason for us to venture to the Westside. Cheers.

And a special thanks to Erika for this invitation…and a promise for another one:

Our reply: Hell yeah. We’ll bring bottles.