Winemaker Notes
The 2017 Jacks Cabin Zinfandel is beautifully detailed in its aromatic profile: candied red fruit, milk chocolate shavings, sweet baking spices, and nuances of vanilla bean pod and cola. The seamless entry reveals coffee grounds and chocolate covered cherries followed by perfumed dried underbrush and sweet loam. Nice firm mid palate gives way to a fresh and focused finish. Please enjoy over the next 5-7 years.
Blend: 95% Zinfandel, 5% Petite Sirah
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Rockpile Zinfandel Jack's Cabin Vineyard, containing 5% Petite Sirah, was aged 14 months in French oak. Medium to deep ruby, it's youthfully reticent, slowly revealing a core of stone-fruit tart with savory notions of iron, gravel dust and meaty hints, milk chocolate, black cherry compote and brambleberry preserves with touches of nutmeg and tobacco. Medium to full-bodied, it’s elegant in the mouth with intense savory layers, a firm frame of grainy (lightly chalky) tannins and seamless acidity, finishing long and spicy. 871 cases produced.
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Wine Enthusiast
Deeply aromatic, this offers hints of bouillon, meat and grilled mushroom, earthy and profuse. The palate delves deeper into rich dark chocolate and baking spice, complemented by vanilla oak and a hint of cola. Robust tannins give it additional power and density within balanced acidity and length.
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.