The ZAP Festival (hosted by the Zinfandel Advocates & Producers) is wonderfully overwhelming. Over 250 wineries pouring two or more different Zinfandels each -- it's heaven on earth for Zin lovers.

The 2008 festival was another great experience. The show is very well managed, so all you really need to do is relax and sample.

You can taste the older, established wineries, like Ravenswood, Ridge, Rosenblum, as well as try wineries that are just producing their first vintages. And that's what we focused much of our attention on -- those brand new wineries that are producing some exciting new Zins.

There were plenty to choose from this year, but these four stood out in our minds:

V-Twin Vineyards (www.vtwinwines.com) 2005 Poker Run, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley Old Vine ($24) and 2005 V-Twin, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley/Dry Creek ($24).

V-Twin was our favorite of the new wineries -- a stand-out in a field of outstanding new wines. Both wines had excellent balance and complexity with very nice licorice and tobacco flavors. "Phenomenally good for first year" was what we noted at the time.

J Dusi Wines (www.jdusiwines.com) 2006 Dante Dusi Vineyard, Paso Robles ($32) and 2004 Haute Haute Haute Zin Port, Dusi Vineyard, Paso Robles ($32).

Our second favorite newbie at the show. The Dusi family has been in Paso Robles since the 1930s and now Janell Dusi is producing some excellent Zins. Their first vintage is delicious and the Zin Port is amazing.

Matrix Winery 2005 Zinfandel and 2006 Barrel Sample (N/A). Both were very nice, with good structure, nice tannins and good fruit without being overly fruity.

Vino D'Angelo (www.vinodangelo.com) 2006 Rescue Red, Shake Ridge Ranch, Amador County, $20.

Dan D'Angelo is a 20-year veteran firefighter in Napa Valley and a portion of all proceeds from Rescue Red goes to firefighter-related non-profit organizations. The wine has nice spice, pepper and smoke along with the nicely balanced fruit.

There were many other exceptional wines we tried -- too many, obviously, to try and capture here. To truly understand this great event, mark your calendars to attend the next ZAP festival (usually the last Saturday of January).