2005 Kaz Winery Sarah Nader Zinfandel

Mission Codename: The Kult of Kaz

Operative: Agent Zin

Objective: Unravel the mystery of Agent Red’s almost reverential devotion to Kaz wines and determine, once and for all, if Red has been brainwashed

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Kaz Winery

Wine Subject: 2005 Sarah Nader Zinfindel

Winemaker: Richard “Kaz” Kasmier

Backgrounder: Wine Spies Operatives know that Agent Red credits Kaz wines for launching his activities as a Wine Spy. His early exposure to Kaz wines led to his overall interest in wine, and to launching his career ultimately to his formation of The Wine Spies organization. Today we send Agent Zin, undercover, to the Kaz Winery to render a final determination on the sanity of Agent Red. Or at least on his fervent love for Kaz wines.

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Perfectly clear pink-to-purple-garnet in color with a tight and springy surface and widely-space pencil-tip thin legs that start off slow and then streak down the glass

Smell – Cherry and spice and everything… stonefruit with oak, acerola, blackberry and mild black pepper and a wonderful hint of grape Bazooka bubblegum – if Bazooka were made from real grapes

Feel – Wet, cool, balanced, round and silky smooth, this wine glides through your mouth before bringing some heat to the back of the mouth and soft tannins to the front of the tongue and the inside of the lips.

Taste – Wonderfully balanced flavors or tart cherry, plum, blackberry, cranberry and boysenberry with a hint of sweet wood and black pepper

Finish – slightly warming and wet at first, then warmer and drying as the wines soft to medium tannins kick in, with flavors that taper slowly

Conclusion – I am now a fan as well. Be sure to read the mission report below to see how I, too, became an instant convert. Now all of us Wine Spies universally love wines from the Kaz Winery. Why? Easy, Kaz makes wines that are delicious, feel handmade and never drink like a mass produced wine. Kaz wines have a heart and a soul and they deliver more than just great drinking… they deliver an experience and a sense of the winemakers love for his craft. This wine, from grapes grown in Amador County is the first that we have featured from the region. Amador is gaining notoriety as the up and coming region for California Zinfandel. You can bet that we’ll be conducting more research, but if today’s wine is any indication, Amador has it goin’ on. Kaz certainly does with this exceptional Zinfandel!

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Mission Report:After my mission briefing at Central Command, I stopped off for a brief chat with Wine Spies staff psychologist, Agent Currant (it’s a slightly obscure cover name but you’ll get it if you think really hard).Currant was well informed on Agent Red’s reverence for Kaz wines and assured me that Red’s devotion was, ”…fine. No problem…”. I checked in with Wine Spies Operatives Agent Sparkle and Agent White. They both assured me that I had nothing to worry about and that Kaz wines were, ”…amazing, the best.”. They tried to convince me that I should leave poor Agent Red alone and simply report to Central Command that Red’s affliction for Kaz wines was ”Healthy” and ”Well founded”.What got to me – what sort of creeped me out – was the look that my fellow agents got on their faces when they discussed Kaz wines. It was almost as though they had all been brainwashed. There was just one thing to do: I needed to visit the Kaz Winery and see what was going on for myself.The balance of this mission report is transmitted in real-time, utilizing our new sub-vocalization tranmitter/transcoder device:

I’m wearing my disguise and I’m in my Zinmobile, heading straight for the Kaz tasting room. Straightening my faux mustache, I’m parking. I’m nervous, but steeling myself for what lay ahead. Now I’m walking into the tasting room.

The decor is ‘farmhouse country’ and the broadly smiling faces on both sides of the counter set me on edge. The people here may see my jaw flexing, but with this subvocalizer in, they can’t tell that I am transmitting my report.

”Pour you a glass of my favorite Zinfandel?”

That was the woman behind the counter.

I’ll bite. “Umm, sure,”

She just set a filled glass down in front of me and I’m covertly dabbing a SpyStrip into the wine.

Reading the SpyStrip. All Clear.

Swirling. Sniffing. So far so good.

Now for a sip.

”Wow! This is GREAT ZINFANDEL! Do you all agree with me that this is the best Zinfandel you have ever tasted?”

[loud sounds of agreement]

[transmission ends]

Central Command Mission Footnote: Agent Zin returned to our NorCal lair, a case of today’s Zinfandel in hand. Agent Red has been cleared of all accusations. Have you tried today’s Zin? C’mon, take a sip… just a little sip………

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The approximate location of the Slo 2-20 Ranch Vineyards can be seen in this satellite photo.