Klinker Brick Brickmason Lodi Red Blend 2016

Big, bold, and packed with fruit, toasted caramel, bramble, and wood smoke, the 2016 Klinker Brick Brickmason recalls the traditional California Zinfandels of yesteryear, wines that were field blends comprised primarily of Zinfandel with Petite Sirah, Syrah, and a bit of every other grape in the vineyard added for good measure. Klinker Brick’s Brickmason provides the ideal wine for a cold winter’s night. It brings deep, dark fruit and the warmth of a blazing hearth. Endowed with a lush texture and plenty of alcohol to complement its wealth of blackberry fruit, the 2016 Brickmason goes down ever so easily to warm the heart as well as the head. Serve at 56°-62°F, and enjoy this American classic now and often for the next five years.

Klinker Brick’s 2016 Brickmason Red, endowed with a preponderance of America’s own grape variety Zinfandel, warrants finger licking American food. Start the grill, fire up the oven, plug in the crock pot or slow cooker and rustle up some succulent baby back ribs, tasty Carolina pork barbecue, or traditional Texas brisket to pair with Klinker Brick’s Brickmason. Brunswick stew, spicy chicken chili, and tried and true Tex-Mex specialties pair beautifully with this wine as well. Turkey with all of the trimmings provides another tasty American classic to accompany the 2016 Klinker Brick Brickmason. Vegetable lasagna, cheese and herb filled cannelloni, and nearly any tomato or cheese laden dish make superb companions to Klinker Brick’s food friendly Brickmason, which should come as no surprise since Zinfandel is the food friendliest of American wines. Enjoy!

Full, savory wines like the 2016 Klinker Brick Brickmason pair beautifully with both hard and soft cheeses. Whether as an entrée to a special evening or as a late night snack, wine and cheese share a natural proclivity. Moreover, they complement one another like no other foods and enhance just about any meal. When pairing wine and cheese at the beginning of an evening with full-bodied reds such as the 2016 Klinker Brick Brickmason, we suggest serving creamy, soft cheeses such as Havarti, Muenster, Mozzarella Bufala, or Neufchatel. Similarly, Edam, Gruyere, Parmesan, Provolone, and Pecorino provide splendid cheeses to pair with this wine at the end of a special meal… but as you like it! To find out more about gourmet cheeses and expert pairings, visit our Gourmet Cheese of the Month Club at www.cheesemonthclub.com and enjoy the flavor and pleasure of the world’s finest cheeses.

Klinker Brick enjoys iconic status in California’s Lodi appellation, home to many of the state’s finest purveyors of old vine Zinfandel. In recent years, Klinker Brick’s Zinfandels and red blends have become some of the most sought after in the state. Owned and run by Steve and Lori Felton, fifth generation grape growers in Lodi, Klinker Brick fashions traditional California wines including Brickmason (this month’s feature), a delicious and ebullient Zinfandel-based field blend; The Ghost, an iconic Zinfandel from the estate’s oldest vines; and a host of other tasty classics, including a mouthwatering rosé and a special Brut Rosé from Grenache and Carignane. This month we invite you to taste and see why Klinker Brick’s wines are capturing the hearts and palates of American consumers.

Although its DNA points to Eastern Europe’s Primitivo grape as its ancestor and its New World appearance still remains under investigation, Zinfandel has been dubbed “America’s own grape variety.” In California, Zinfandel produces a wine quite different from its Croatian and Italian forebears, and nowhere is that more apparent and welcome than in Lodi where this sun worshipping varietal basks in the long, dry summer afternoons, which bring the grape to the pinnacle of ripeness. Zinfandel’s deep, rich colors, intense berry, bramble, and herb flavors, high alcohol, and lush tannins result in wines that fill the mouth and satisfy all of the senses.

One of the Zinfandel varietal’s keys to success is its extraordinary lifespan, which enables it to produce quality fruit well into old age. In fact, the oldest Zinfandel vineyards (many in California are in excess of 100 years of age) are the most prized. Zinfandel can be quite versatile, too (think White Zinfandel as well as many of California’s most celebrated and intense red wines).

As an immigrant to our shores, Zinfandel embodies the American experience. It is a grape that has transformed itself over the last century and a half and honed its own unique identity. In the eyes of many, Zinfandel has become a bigger, better, more complex grape since its arrival in America – a grape variety with a can do attitude and unique chameleon-like identity all its own.