Wine Wednesday, Zaha

Ah, another Wine Wednesday and another maddening dilemma of what to write about, especially since I'm fresh off of the Fall Show for Opici Wines. I tasted so many amazing wines yesterday!

One of the things I love to do is let you know when something new is coming to the area, the area being Florida. If you are in other states or countries, I certainly hope you can find this fantastic Malbec, ZaHa.

It's no secret I'm a fan of Malbec from Mendoza and this is now one of them. Its not a typical Malbec though. While it has good fruit like black cherry, it is smoky with a bit of coffee and spice. While ZaHa is 90% Malbec, it has just a touch of Cabernet Franc and Petite Verdot to round things out.

In the $40 range,  the 2010 got 92 points from Wine Advocate. ZaHa means heart and it got mine!

B.R. Cohn

Just around the corner from Valley of the Moon in Glen Ellen is the tasting room for B.R. Cohn. Owner Bruce R. Cohn is the long time manager of the Doobie Brothers so this winery is famous for events that involve live music and other fun! We just missed the Fall Music Festival! Of course the winery has a signature Dobbie Brothers wine. It's called Doobie Red and is a blend made with Bordeaux style varietals. A portion of the proceeds from this $20 bottle go to veteran and other charitable organizations.

2007 produced some great wines in California and all of them we tried at B.R. Cohn are worth purchasing. The Petite Sirah was dark, toasty, spicy and rich with tannins. My favorite of the tasting was the 2007 Petit Verdot. The grapes are grown at the Olive Hill Estate Vineyard and are said to receive "the same care and attention" as B.R. Cohn's well known Olive Hill Cabernet Sauvignon which totally rocked! The Petit Verdot was full of black-cherry and vanilla and got a gold star on my tasting notes!

They were making room for the new vintage and had great sales on these wines by the case. Another fabulous perk for visiting the tasting room in person!

By the way, if you are thinking about a wine country wedding B.R. Cohn hosts them and will soon be home to a culinary center.