2005 Green & Red Zinfandel Chiles Canyon - Green and red is consistently one of my favorite Zins. The wine is always full bodied, but it never careens over the top like many others. Ripe and effusively fruity, with layers of plum, black cherry, raspberry, anise, sage and cedar, finishing with a long, rich aftertaste that keeps pumping out the fruit. About the Green & Red Label: The label is adapted from a wine chalice painted by Exekias in the 6th century B.C. depicting the Homeric "Hymn to Dionysus" wherein he is abducted by pirates. Against the better advice of the helmsman, who recognized the god of wine, the pirates tried to bind Dionysus, whereupon he changed into a raging lion. The ship's hull filled with wine. A grapevine entwined the mast from which clusters were born. The sailors, terrified, jumped overboard and were instantly metamorphosized into dolphins, The helmsman, who had shown proper respect to the god, was spared. "...wine broke out, babbling, bubbling over their speedy black ship, it was sweet, it was fragrant, its odor was divine. Every sailor who saw it was terrified. Suddenly, a vine sprang up, on each side, to the very top of the sail. And grapes, all over, clung to it... They all jumped ship into the sea, they jumped into the divine sea. They became dolphins." |