2010 Alexander Valley Sin Zin      $17.99/bottle

In 1978 Hank Wetzel produced the very first vintage of Sin Zin. The wine quickly became a cult classic among wine lovers with spicy flavors, a memorable name and unforgettable label. Thirty three years later Sin Zin is still one of the most recognizable wines in the country.

From the beginning Sin Zin has been an elegant style of Zinfandel, due to our growing region and winemaking style. We harvest grapes from throughout the Alexander Valley - including the valley floor, hillsides and benchlands looking for a balance of ripeness and acidity in each lot to showcase our valley. This balance explains Sin Zin’s restaurant popularity; it is always a food friendly style of Zinfandel.

Overall, 2010 was a long, cool growing season with harvest occurring about 2 weeks later than many prior vintages. The cooler temperatures gave us great acid retention in the fruit, while the extra hang time gave us great flavor development with deep color and good complexity. In many ways this vintage could be compared to 1999 which was also a cooler growing season.

For years The Badger has been our go to guy for witty yet intelligent write-ups on some of our more snobby, high-end beers.  The Badger does what the Badger wants, so unfortunately I have been relegated to write something about Lagunitas Sucks.  A fitting name for my first entry into "A Note From the Badger".  Let me say first and foremost that I'm really sick of Groupon Emails.  If you're like me, you signed up for Groupon years ago because you thought you might get some use out of it.  Like Lagunitas Sucks, Groupons Emails Sucks.  The first time you read one of their quirky emails, you have a laugh and think to yourself, "Man, those guys at Groupon are pretty funny."  But unfortunately after 1500 emails, it gets quite old.  It's sort of like when a hot girl tells a single guy they're funny.....Once he has that information, he tries too hard and ceases to be funny anymore.  Not only is he not funny, but he becomes annoying.  Very annoying.  But I digress.  So about the Lagunitas Sucks.....I enjoyed this one with my good friend Jim last night.  (Jim and I are both married so we get together every once in a while, go into the dungeon that is my basement, and talk about how much we love our wives....)  Anyhow, although it's an Imperial IPA I was thrown off by how light in appearance this beer actually is.  Not too much hoppiness, smooth on the palate, and you get that "Brown Shugga" finish right at the end.  Something about this beer being LIMITED probably makes it that much better......Alright, I'm done.  $11.99/6-Pack.