Winemaker Notes
Blend: 87% Zinfandel, 13% Petite Sirah
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A dynamic Zinfandel, with fragrant raspberry and sweet anise aromas and structured yet vibrant smoky cherry and cracked pepper flavors that linger toward polished tannins. Drink now through 2024
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Zinfandel Rocky Reserve Florence Vineyard is medium garnet-purple colored and offers up a core of baked plums and dried mulberries with suggestions of spice cake, prunes, raspberry tart, baking spices and stewed tea. Full-bodied and opulently fruited in the mouth, it has a chewy backbone and refreshing lift to the finish. 508 cases produced.
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Wine Enthusiast
An intensely broad-shouldered red blended with 13% Petite Sirah, this has plenty of power within a full-flavored array of brambly blackberry, cherry and dusty cinnamon. The oak (a blend of French and American) is supportive and integrated.
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.