2016 Zinfandel Maddalena Wins
We were driving along, when we came upon a car wreck. A family van jack-knifed as it pulled a trailer with two huge oak tree trunks. The police had cordoned off the boulevard preventing drivers from crashing into its mess. The ridiculous situation might as well have come from a Peter Seller’s movie like “Shot in the Dark”. A middle-aged guy was hauling his massive load of logs along a busy city street. There were two gigantic Missouri oak trunks lashed side-by-side across a regular flatbed trailer; each tree trunk was at least eight Ft. long, weighing tons. His overestimated the pulling power the family van, rather than hiring a professional trucking firm. His everyday four-cylinder van actually blew apart! Its wheels can, resting pigeon-toed against wheel wells. The motor emitted steam or smoke. And his load of tree trunks was turned sideways, blocking the boulevard. As we slowly drove past, the driver was sitting on the driver’s side, door open, and watching the police do their safety duty. No doubt he was experiencing deep financial regrets. But his emotions were probably similar to what many of us view in hindsight. He isn’t the first nor will he be the last to learn the hard way. I.e. Shakespeare put King Richard on a battlefield screaming, “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!” (Richard III, Act V, Scene IV). The king was fighting his enemy, who sent straw men dressed as himself on the field. A very frustrated Richard is screaming; he has killed five of these fakes; now, he needs another horse to continue. So, it is with Maddalena Winery’s Zinfandel, take it as good. The wine will not pull a great Zin up a hill nor defeat a wily champion. It is a true Zin with all the fundamental characteristics. Mark it a “drink it now” red wine.
