Steele Mendocino County Zinfandel Pacini Vineyard 2010: Blueberry, bacon nose; big, very ripe fruit on the palate, raspberry, black cherry, blackberry, chip of chocolate and caramel, pinch of pepper, too; immense fruit; cool climate gives this an acidity boost, which helps balance intense fruitiness and explains its somewhat subdued (for a zin) alcohol—13.8%. Mendocino County is north of Napa and Sonoma and generally regarded as the pleasant enough cousin of the grandees of California grape aristocrats on Route 29; Mendocino traditionally has been zin country, and this effort sustains the reputation. It is classically over-the-top, red-fruit-fruity flavor bomb. If you want to pour a quintessential California old vines, big fruit zinfandel, look no further than Steele’s Pacini Vineyard effort. Oh, my, the mouth-filling fruit; so much flavor to savor it panics the palate. $17
