Winemaker Notes
This special barrel selection is presented to showcase just how elegant, fragrant, and balanced Napa hillside Zinfandels can be. The selection criteria emphasize aroma, middle-palate, and finish – berries with hints of flowers, minerals, and spice in the aroma; multi-layered and rich flavor on the broad and supple middle palate; and an intense, clean, and lingering impression on the finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
This is bolder than recent vintages of Eastern Exposures, a cellar selection that typically emphasizes the finesse zin can show when ripened by the morning sun. In 2019, the oak shows first before the wine begins to calm, transforming that wood influence toward spice as the bright red fruit comes up from under the blackness. With a day of air, it’s all plum and raspberry, juicy, clean and vibrant. Decant it, or cellar for five years.
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.