Winemaker Notes
The Mayacamas Range Zinfandel is Storybook Mountain's primary estate wine from 100% Napa Valley organically grown grapes. Here you will find all the varietal character and fruit for which Zinfandel is famous, plus the depth and structure associated with Napa hillside vineyards, and the balance for which Storybook wines are known. Crafted to be enjoyed on release, the wine's notable depth and balance will continue its appeal well into the future.
Professional Ratings
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Storybook Mountain Zinfandels are rarely, if ever, dramatic wines of exuberantly juicy fruit, but they are typically deep, and well-structured offerings that rely less on bombast and more on balance and varietal precision, and this one does just that. If slightly pulled back in ripeness and a tad tight just now, it has the right pieces in place to age handsomely, and, given its maker's track record for making long-lived Zins that reveal a certain claret-like elegance with time, we have no reservations about setting a few bottles aside for drinking when five or six years have passed.
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.