Okay… I suppose that I should first assure you that I am not putting you on. You likely read the name of this week’s Beverage of the Week several times, as did we when the bottle first arrived. Disbelief went to a chuckle, which was proceeded by an embarrassing display of our childlike humor. Once comfortable saying Big Ass Zin, we felt liberated to use the moniker throughout the day. Suddenly objects of size became the Big Ass stapler, or Big Ass sandwich, and Big … Well, you get the idea. (We have since been asked to stop.)

Hopefully you too have moved past the name and are ready to tackle the wine within the bottle. I must admit that whenever we receive any product with a ostentatious name, expectations are low. When we sat down to taste the Big Ass Zin we were gratefully surprised to find it to be an exceptional wine. Yes, it’s a big wine but it’s also balanced, complex and a pleasure to sip.

The brand, with the name you will never forget, was created at Adler Fels Winery in 2004. The wines are designed to demonstrate ‘California Style’ being rich in fruit, lush, and full-bodied. We are very pleased that these wines are not all about the big. This Big Ass wine delights in its subtle flavors as well as being relatively low in alcohol (under 14%). The Big Ass Zin showcases the beautiful aspects of fruit forward wines while it also demonstrates careful and skilled winemaking.

At the end of the day I suppose that Big Ass is far catchier than ‘Generous, tasty, and unpretentious wine sold at a sensible price.’