Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Rife with bright blackberry and strawberry scents that favor the fruit preserve end of the varietal spectrum, this one is both ripe and solidly balanced at the same time. It is supple at entry, then firms up nicely and reflects both the Storybook love of brisk finishes while also showing itself as both fully expressive and, at the same time, entirely capable of rewarding those who would put it away for three to six years. As with many 2007s, it carries a bit of latter palate raggedness, and while fine with food now, it will be better over time.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Normally, the softest wine of the group and the portfolio (a title it retains in 2007) is the 2007 Zinfandel Eastern Exposures. This is a smaller cuvee of just over 500 cases. Elegant berry fruit intermixed with briary notes, loamy soil undertones, pepper and spice are followed by a round, soft, easygoing wine that should drink nicely for the next 4-5 years.
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Wine & Spirits
Tannins come first, firm and austere. Then juicy blueberry flavors build around the tannin with pleasing sweetness and spice. With a day of air, this particular bottle showed more alcohol, implying the wine may be best to decant now, to enjoy with steak.
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.