"Liar's Dice" Zinfandel Sonoma County Wine

"Liar's Dice" is a game played with five dice in a cup. It sounds like it should be played while drinking, because if it’s not, it’s called Yahtzee. It could also be played as dice poker, but really, that’s just not cool. Get a deck of cards.

Murphy Goode's 2013 Liar's Dice Zinfandel was conceived, so the website says, by co-founder Tim Murphy. There were many games of Liar's Dice played while brainstorming this beverage in the one-horse Sonoma County town of Geyserville. One horse, but, like, 37 wineries. Geyserville is actually still waiting for their “cool” status. All the "cool" in the area is currently sucked up by Healdsburg a bit down the road. But Geyserville is cool enough for me, as some really good grapes are grown there.

There is nearly a full dice cup of Sonoma County Zinfandel here, 96%, with the remainder being beefed up by Petite Sirah. Winemaker David Ready Jr. has been head man in the cellar for about 15 years, so he knows his way around the barrels. The wine is a full-throated 15.4% abv and sells for $21.

It's medium dark in the glass and has a gorgeous nose, ripe and spicy. The expected vanilla and clove notes are met with brambly hints of coriander and allspice. On the palate, it's big and bouncy with rollicking cherry and cola flavors rolling over a blackberry base. Cinnamon, cardamom and a nice package of herbs nudge this wine in a savory direction, but it stays closer to the fruity side. Big tannins here, so bring tri-tip.


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