Winemaker Notes
The Rinaldi Vineyard in Fiddletown is one of the oldest in the state, dating back to 1866. The Easton Fiddletown Old Vine Zinfandel is always 100% Zinfandel from the Rinaldi Vineyard. They approach making the wine from this vineyard in much the same way a good winemaker would approach a grand cru vineyard in Burgundy. They want to reveal what the fruit has to offer each year in all of its purity, not obscure it.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This intense, full-bodied and distinctive wine accents beautifully concentrated black cherry and blackberry flavors with haunting hints of sage, black pepper and balsam. A firm moderately tannic texture is buoyed by good fruit acidity. The vineyard in remote Fiddletown dates to 1865.
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Wine Spectator
Briary and dynamic, with lively wild cherry, dried sage and white pepper flavors that pick up speed toward fine-grained tannins.
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.
