Winemaker Notes
This vineyard is long recognized for its prized red wines and its Zinfandel is no exception. Since our first vintage in 1987, the Jack London Zinfandel has produced flavorful wines with excellent fruit and well-rounded tannins to produce an outstanding, very distinctive Zinfandel.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Earthy aromas of bark and wild herbs with notes of dark fruit and cooking spice. Full-bodied but rather light-footed with good lift and juiciness. Firm tannins. Cocoa and espresso come through with a hint of orange peel. A rather pleasant zinfandel.
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Wine Enthusiast
Spicy, rocky and lively, this wine is burly in plum and raspberry fruit, with robust, concentrated and unabashed richness. Traces of vanilla and cola accent the finish.
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.
Defined more by altitude than geographical outline, the Sonoma Mountain appellation occupies elevations between 400 and 1,200 feet on the northern and eastern slopes of the actual Sonoma Mountain and is part of the greater Sonoma Valley appellation. The mountain reaches 2,400 feet; its hills separate the cooling winds of Petaluma Gap from the Sonoma Valley.
On a cooler western flank, Pinot noir, Chardonnay and Syrah enjoy a great deal of success. Vineyards on its warmer, eastern side, interspersed with heavily forested areas, tend to include Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel, and Syrah. Given its complexity of topography and mesoclimates, Sonoma Mountain excels with a wide range of grape varieties.