Professional Ratings

• 96 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  Made of 100% Zinfandel aged 15 months in new French (48%) and American (19%) oak, the medium garnet-purple colored 2016 Gnarly Vine Zinfandel Monte Rosso Vineyard opens with incredibly spicy notes of cinnamon stick, cumin seed and Sichuan pepper with a core of raspberry pie, dusty soil, tree bark and underbrush. Full-bodied, rich and concentrated, it has a wonderfully plush texture and wicked backbone of freshness, finishing long and perfumed.
• 94 James Suckling
  Full-bodied, dense and layered with amazing fruit. Chocolate, too. Heady and wild. From ancient vines planted in the late 1800s. I love this for its history and reality. Great wine. Drink now.
• 92 Wine & Spirits

  A zap of red-currant flavor drives this exuberant vintage from Monte Rosso, Martini’s vineyard in the red volcanic hills of Sonoma Valley, where the zin vines date to 1893. It’s a pretty wine, showing its 16.2 percent alcohol in the sweetness of the plump red-berry fruit, a contrast to the spark of mineral umami reduction. Bright and youthful, it will bring its energy to your Fourth of July fireworks.

• 90 Wine Enthusiast

  This immense, full-bodied and lush wine is generous in tannin and oak, allowing just enough space for black fruit to come into the light. Structured and firm on the palate, it has as much savory intensity as it does brooding fruit.

• 90 Wine Spectator
  Focused and zesty, with well-buffed cherry, orange zest and smoked pepper flavors that pick up speed toward refined tannins. Drink now through 2024.