Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Focused and well-structured, with ripe cherry and grilled sage aromas and complex plum, cracked white pepper and licorice flavors that finish with firm but ripe tannins. Drink now through 2020.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
It would be easy enough to argue that this wine was probably a bit better at five or six years of age rather than ten, as is the case with most unabashedly ripe Zins, and, while it is as impactful as ever, it has found little in the way of sophistication or refinement with time. Now at the high end of upper middle-age, it is at once rich and robust and beginning to dry at the edges, and, while a wine that is still sure to do tasty service with a savory, well-seasoned pork rib roast, further age seems of questionable benefit at best and protracted keeping is not advised.
Unapologetically bold, spice-driven and jammy, Zinfandel has secured its title as the darling of California vintners by adapting well to the state's diverse microclimates and landscapes. Born in Croatia, it later made its way to southern Italy where it was named Primitivo. Fortunately, the imperial nursery of Vienna catalogued specimens of the vine, and it later made its way to New England in 1829. Parading the true American spirit, Zinfandel found a new home in California during the Gold Rush of 1849. Somm Secret—California's ancient vines of Zinfandel are those that survived the neglect of Prohibition; today these vines produce the most concentrated, ethereal and complex examples.
High elevation vineyards—800 to 2,100 feet—on well-drained soils of red and brown clay loam, gravel and large rock outcroppings produce low yields of intense, high-quality fruit. Surrounded by Northern Sonoma County and overlapping Dry Creek Valley in its northwest corner, the Rockpile AVA produces some of California most powerful Zinfandel, Petit Sirah, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon based wines.