Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Zinfandel Judge Bell comes from a block of vines planted in 1907 known as Picnic Hill Block in the Story Vineyard. These are classic head-pruned, dry-farmed, ungrafted vines planted eight years before the beginning of World War I. One of the best Amador Zinfandels I’ve ever tasted, this wine displays plenty of briary raspberry, black and red cherry as well as boysenberry fruit, good underlying structure, some earth, pepper, meat and spice. It is full-bodied, rich, heady, and somehow manages to brilliantly conceal a whopping 16.2% natural alcohol. Of course, a wine like this would be excoriated by the “in pursuit of balance” crowd, but this is what balance is all about – what looks to be a mind-numbing amount of alcohol is incredibly well-concealed. This wine should drink well for 8-10 years.
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.
As the lower part of the greater Sierra Foothills appellation, Amador is roughly a plateau whose vineyards grow at 1,200 to 2,000 feet in elevation. It is 100 miles east of both San Francisco and Napa Valley. Most of its wineries are in the oak-studded rolling hillsides of Shenandoah Valley or east in Fiddletown, where elevations are slightly higher.
The Sierra Foothills growing area was among the largest wine producers in the state during the gold rush of the late 1800s. The local wine industry enjoyed great success until just after the turn of the century when fortune-seekers moved elsewhere and its population diminished. With Prohibition, winemaking was totally abandoned, along with its vineyards. But some of these, especially Zinfandel, still remain and are the treasure chest of the Sierra Foothills as we know them.
Most Amador vines are planted in volcanic soils derived primarily from sandy clay loam and decomposed granite. Summer days are hot but nighttime temperatures typically drop 30 degrees and the humidity is low, making this an ideal environment for grape growing. Because there is adequate rain throughout the year and even snow in the winter, dry farming is possible.