Before my husband and I were married we would take the occasional trip to Sin City (Las Vegas, Nevada) to catch a show, do some shopping and partake in a little harmless gambling. On our first few trips there we would mainly stick with the slot machines. It never failed either that my guy would win a decent amount of money and I would sit there continually feeding this one armed beast that would never produce anything for me. Eventually my husband ventured off to blackjack and soon developed an incredible winning streak with that as well. I stayed faithful to the slot machines and again never really won anything. One night my soon to be husband turned in early, but before doing so he gave me a nice amount of money to play. I sat at that machine and watched every dime disappear. When I returned to the hotel room my sweetie just looked at me and said baby it’s all in the last name. You see his last name is Gamble. He explained to me that once I became a Gamble my luck would change.

We finally got married and for our one-year anniversary we decided to celebrate in Vegas. We stayed at the Signature Hotel, which is a great attachment at the MGM Grand. When we got there we put our bags down and immediately decided to go out and check out the casino at the MGM Grand (there is no casino at the Signature). As usual my husband decided to play an initial game of slots before heading off to the blackjack table. He asked me where I wanted to sit and I chose a couple of machines off in a corner in the back. When we settled in and I put in my player’s card, inserted my money and hit the spin button. All of the sudden my machine appeared to be frozen. I asked my husband to come over to take a look. He came over and laughed. “Baby you won,” he stated. I couldn’t believe it. Before I knew there was a lady at the machine telling me that I’d won $1300.00 and taking down all of my pertinent information. I was in a state of shock. I’d never won anything. I know what some of you may be thinking… $1300.00 what’s so great about that. To me, though, that was a jackpot as significant as any other. I knew then that I was truly a Gamble. That wasn’t the only jackpot of the trip. My husband did well at blackjack also.  Then on our actual anniversary we decided to dine at Emeril’s in the MGM. Another jackpot occurred there. We researched the wine list and decided on the Gnarly Head Zinfandel. I’d never heard of it and was a little apprehensive. However, I found the name interesting. When the wine arrived at the table and the waiter poured the initial tasting I was pleasantly surprised. I wrote down the name to research this wine further when I returned home to Southern California.

At home I looked the wine up on the Internet.  This very good wine is an Old Vine Zin from Lodi, California. The vines range in age from 35-80 years old and are so unruly that the name Gnarly Head just seemed appropriate. According to the company these vines produce only a small amount of small grapes but they are intense in flavor. Gnarly Head Old Vine Zinfandel has the taste of berries, oak and spices with a hint of vanilla and chocolate. It retails from $8.99 to $11.99 so it’s a bargain to boot. This wine pairs very well with a variety of dishes. We keep it on hand as a wine that we can enjoy with just about any meal I prepare.

Gnarly Head Zinfandel is now easy to find in many wine shops and supermarkets. Below is the link to the website. If you’ve not tried it please do. I think you, too, will be pleasantly surprised.

The company also produces a more intense version of this wine called Gnarlier Head Zinfandel. It retails for about $19.99. It’s not as easy to find in stores. When I tried it I had to order it through a local wine shop (The Green Jug). The flavor, to me, is a lot more robust than the milder brother, Gnarly Head. Try them both and let me know what you think.  

As always, please remember to drink responsibly.

http://www.gnarlyhead.com/Wines/