Rocky Block is better than Rocky Top

B eing a cheap wine bastard I buy a lot of boxed wine. Some are bad (Vin Vault) and some are good. Botabox (except for their 1.5 liter box). I saw Rockys Block on the shelf at Vineyard Wine Market and said gotta try it. 3 liters of wine will last a while. I hope it’s good.
They have a Pinot, a Cab, a Zin and a Chard. I went for the Zin. The box says “Deliciously smooth, jammy, complex, blackberry, robust, dark fruit, full, bold flavors.” The label is a very neat ransom note. I added the apostrophes. Basically these words are all over the place. I’m not sure if they link together or not.
According to the side label Rocky is “Robert Reynolds” and he says “From my block to yours.” The label goes on to say “Here is what defines Rocky…

• Growing grapes from family-owned vineyards for over 60 years
• Live life to the fullest and is a legend on his block
• Five generations of winemaking
• No holds barred passion for growing premium wine grapes and winemaking.

These wines are a reflectlon of Rocky’s character.

His winery is in Lodi but since it says “California” is suspect that his grapes are from all around.
This wine is not as opaque as I thought considering it’s “jammy” and “bold.” Got that bright cherry tinge around the edge of the glass. Aroma is nice but no special notes come to mind. Maybe a bit of cherry.

Jammy it is. When you first open it the flavors are a bit bright and slightly sweet. After about a week in the box it has mellowed out. I do taste blackberry but not the blackberry that you find in dessert wines. It tastes a bit like the tart blackberry I had with my cereal this morning. A nice flavor that has a bit of a biting edge to it.
I would like to think I would say this was a zin on a blind tasting. Compared to other boxed zins it’s not bad. I think the Botabox has maybe an edge but not much. I am glad to see the 2013 Zins hitting the market. I almost stopped drinking 2012 Zins because they just didn’t have the body the 2010 and 2011 Zins did.
Looking back at the box descriptions. Bold? Yes but because it does not lack for flavor. Not sure what the word “Full” is supposed to compliment . It’s dark for sure except for the color.
When I went to the web address on the box I got redirected to Oak Ridge Winery. I’ve had several of their wines before. One of their labels is OZV. I love that Old Vine Zinfandel. Down toward the bottom of their Trade Tools page is Rocky’s block. When you click on it you are offered a ZIP file. I hope I’m not about to get hacked. Looks like it’s full of product shots. The odd thing is that their media kit shows the Zin as having a dark purple label. The box in front of me is red. The words are the same but the design is different.
Mrs. Dan said it was pretty good. Didn’t jump up and down over it though. A week later there is still some in the box so maybe she doesn’t like it as much as she first indicated. I think I will have to give their Cab a try. Then I will decide if $16.99 for a 3 Liter box is worth it. I have to face the truth….a 3 liter box of wine that I will only drink is a waste. I got to keep Mrs. Dan happy.
All and all, for $16.99 I think I got a deal.
What to pair it with? I can’t remember what we had for dinner the night we opened it. But whatever it was it paired well. But what do I know. I’m a cheap wine bastard.