Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From the Rockpile AVA, the 2012 Zinfandel Botticelli Vineyard reveals slightly more acids as well as more briary, mountain berry-styled fruit, a tangy, spicy headiness, a full-bodied mouthfeel, and impressive purity, texture and length. It, too, should be consumed over the next 7-8 years.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Concentrated, very well-defined blackberry sits at the heart of this intense, full-bodied Zinfandel and, although never lacking in ripeness, the wine steps back from the brink of unbridled excess. It is powerful without being brutish, and nuance is not its game, but it more than makes up in sheer depth for what it may lack in refinement. It is firmed by ample, but well-integrated tannins and it comes with enough finishing heat to notice, but it is hardly extreme for a big Zin, and four or five years of aging should see it grow into its best.
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.