Kenwood Vineyards, Sonoma County (California) Zinfandel 2009

 A Zinfandel lover recently recently cried on my shoulder lamenting the absence of well-balanced Zin in the marketplace. Zins have gotten bigger (as a percentage of alcohol by volume) in recent years, but not necessarily better. Here’s a Zin with a modest (by Zinfandel standards) 14.5 percent abv and a gold medal from the Critics Challenge. Yep, it’s very tasty, too.