There they were, on one of the Swirl Girls’ weekly “look what came in the mail” lists – three zinfandels, all from Ravenswood winery. Zinfandel, you see, holds a special place on my palate – the place that says, “any zin, any time.”

Three California areas were represented: Lodi, Sonoma and Napa. The zinfandels are part of Ravenswood’s County Series; the fourth wine in the series made is from Mendocino. It wasn’t a horizontal tasting, where all the wines are from the same year, but it was close. I tasted a 2009 Old Vine from Lodi; a 2009 Old Vine from Sonoma and a 2010 Old Vine from Napa Valley. All in the same night, with the same food.

I wanted a hearty meat dish that had a tomato-based sauce, but I didn’t want fancy. Zinfandel can be dressed up or down; for this tasting I wanted some comfort food.

So we had Sloppy Joes with our zins. How’s that for comfort food? I make them from scratch, and they are (I say, humbly) really, really delicious. (See recipe below.)

First, we tasted the Lodi zin ($15.99 at Total Wine), which had a slight cherry nose, with some spice on it. Very promising. It tasted full, with blackberries, black cherries, and raspberry notes, and little vanilla. It needed to open a bit, because the tannins were prominent. With food, it blossomed into a rich, full wine with a nice mouthfeel and a longish finish.

Second was the Sonoma County zin ($17.99 at Total Wine), which had a slight nose of tart cherry. It tasted more tart than the Lodi, too, but also had some spice, as well as big cherries and raspberries. Not as bold as the Lodi, but a nice zin and better – it had a fresher taste - with food than without.

Third was the Napa zin from 2010 ($15.99 online), so it was a year younger than the other two. On the nose, it had slight strawberry, a little raspberry and overall was a bigger fruit bomb in smell than the other two zins. But it tasted the thinnest of the three, which was too bad after that great, fragrant nose. With food, it was a bit metallic and the finish was not pleasant.

The Lodi was our clear winner. I tasted all three again the next night, and the Lodi again scored the best, along with the Sonoma bottle that opened up quite nicely overnight.

◊

HOMEMADE SLOPPY JOES

1 pound ground beef

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup ketchup

½ cup barbecue sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 small onion, chopped

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ cup red wine or water

¼ teaspoon red pepper or hot sauce (optional)

Brown the ground beef and drain off fat.

Add everything else except red wine/water, then add enough of either of those to keep mixture slightly moist, to taste. Let everything mingle over medium heat for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Spoon onto buns. Pour some zinfandel, and enjoy.