Winemaker Notes
Serve with hearty fare.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
When the old Brandlin Ranch on Mount Veeder sold in 1995, George Hendry selected budwood from those old vines for planting at this four-acre block on his family's ranch at the base of the hill. This grows on benchland soils west of the town of Napa, producing an exuberant zin in 2013, a full, generous, red-fruited wine with scents of mace and sage. It shows a lot of barrel influence for now (65% of the oak for its aging was new), making it appealing to cabernet drinkers.
Year's Best Zinfandels
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.