ZIN-FANTASTIC WINES

 

A customer sent me this snapshot from decades ago when people used to be able to say if you enjoyed Zinfandel, you needed to know the "Three Rs."
That would have been Ravenswood, Rosenblum and Ridge.
And there we see Ravenswood founder and winemaker Joel Peterson,
Rosenblum's owner and winemaker Dr. Kent Rosenblum 
and Ridge Vineyards' winemaker Paul Draper.
Those were the days!

 

 

RIDGE VINEYARDS

No other winery has brought as much attention to Zinfandel as Ridge Vineyards.  

 If you don't know Ridge, you don't know Zinfandel.  

Simple as that.


When they were founded the idea was to make red wines and Zinfandel was more readily available on the grape market than was Cabernet Sauvignon. Some fellows who worked at the Stanford Research Institute were curious about wine and this "hobby" turned into one of the top wine "domaines" in California.

Charlie Rosen, Hew Crane and our old buddy Dave Bennion

These guys were the original owners of Ridge...Dave Bennion quit SRI and became the winemaker in 1967 until they hired a young pup named Paul Draper to take over the winemaking duties.

Dave Bennion and Paul Draper...a photo from the early 1970s.

 

The Montebello name was used for Burgundy, Chablis and Riesling, once upon a time!

 

With Cabernet in short supply, Ridge purchased Zinfandel grapes from Paso Robles, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Amador and Lodi.  The wines were all fermented individually and bottled either as a single-vineyard wine or as a regional bottling.  This practice continues today, the flagship wines being "Geyserville" and "Lytton Springs".    

Paul Draper and the late Donn Reisen...maybe from the early 1980s?
A photo of Donn in his days as the tasting room manager at Ridge...
He later became VP of sales and then was the President/GM until his untimely passing in 2008.

Ridge, you see, had a very early grasp on the idea of "terroir," finding the various batches of Zinfandel to be different depending upon where the fruit was grown.  Over the years, Sonoma County has become a prime source for fruit and so they make a number of different Sonoma wines.  

They used to make dozens of different batches of wine.  Sometimes they'd have a "late bottling" of a wine, what with cooperage and storage space being scarce.  Experimentation has always been done at Ridge...and it's been quite a training ground for winemakers.  Paul Draper came on board decades ago and he finally retired in 2016.  At least, that's the rumor.  His impact on the California wine industry is remarkable.  Under his helmsman-ship, Ridge never chased scores or trends.  They stuck to making good wine and wines for adult palates.


Minimal cellar treatments are employed in an effort to bottle the most aromatic and flavorful wines.  The wines of the early 1970s were really monumental, some of them still tasting like barrel samples today (backwards and youthful)!  

The winemaking has been refined over the years and today Ridge, generally, puts out a pretty good bottle of Zinfandel.  What's interesting is the evolution of their wine and style since those early days.

Wines from the early 1970s were hugely extracted, dark, often a bit potent (in those days, 14% alcohol was considered a monster...today you'll find Zins at 16+% alcohol!).  Over the years the wines have become more elegant and refined.  While they may have appealed to "new" wine fans in the early 1970s, today they may appeal to more "mature" palates.

At one point in time, wine writers would advise readers to know the "3 R's of Zinfandel, Ridge, Ravenswood and Rosenblum."  Given some of the spotty wines of Ravenswood and Rosenblum, I'd say you only need to know one "R": Ridge.

We have several wines in the store, typically.  
And keep in mind Ridge is a source for some of California's best Cabernet and Chardonnay.

So...

The 2018 Lytton Springs comes from this special vineyard in Sonoma near the Dry Creek Valley.  It's an older vineyard and is a field blend...the old-timers planted a number of odd varieties in the same vineyard with the idea of producing a blended red without their having to do blending trials in the lab.  In fact, nobody in those days had a lab.  This vintage has a modest level of tannin, but it's certainly drinkable in its youth.  Beautiful spice notes...brambly and a bit of pepper.  Very fine.

 

 

Three Valleys takes the place of what used to be called "Coast Range" in the really old days and "Sonoma Station" more recently.  It is a Zin-based blend with fruit coming from the Russian River, Dry Creek and Alexander Valley regions.  I suppose if they had grapes from Glen Ellen, for example, they'd have to re-name it Four Valleys.   The 2020 is very good...and well-priced.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2019 Geyserville is a killer.  This bottling is usually a top-flight wine, but the 2019 is remarkably good.  Don't miss it.

 

The Paso Robles Zinfandel comes from the Benito Dusi vineyard, a site planted during Prohibition (1922!).
Ridge has been getting fruit from this historic site since the 1960s and they bottle it as "Paso Robles" with a notation of the Dusi vineyard n the label.
While many Paso Robles wines are big fruit bombs, Ridge makes a far more elegant and restrained wine which provides evidence that the region can produce something a bit more refined than the usual.

It's said to be 100% Zinfandel.

This wine may be more Ridge than Paso.
Whatever it is, it's damned good.

 

 

The Pagani Ranch is located in the Sonoma Valley...west side of the Valley.  It had been comprised of seriously old vines, ranging from plantings going back to the 1910s!  They recently replanted some parcels, starting in 2013 and finishing in 2018, at least for the time being.

Ridge has been making a single vineyard Pagani bottling since the early 1990s.

The 2020 vintage is less than 14% alcohol, a rare vintage indeed.  Typically these have been closer to 14.8%...

This has snappy acidity to go along with the spice and red fruit notes...very fine!

Currently available:    
2019 Lytton Springs Zin, etc. $41.99
2020 "Three Valleys" Zin (List $32) $29.99

2019 Geyserville 750ml   SALE $39.99
2015 Lytton Springs Magnum  SALE $79.99
2020 Paso Robles  750ml SALE $39.99
2020 "Pagani" $39.99

 

 

 

PEDRONCELLI

When you're an old-time winery with a long track record, you're often over-looked by those searching for the latest, most 'hip' wines.

Pedroncelli has been around for decades and we've known their wines going back to the late 1960s and can recall tasting their excellent 1970 Pinot Noir and 1970 Cabernet Sauvignon.  The family still runs the place, a smallish facility on Canyon Road in Geyserville.  

We usually have a number of wines from Pedroncelli as they make good wines which are sensibly priced.  They get little recognition from today's critics, since the wines are not amped up and tasting as though they were made from grapes "on steroids."  

 

 

 

 

We've been especially fond of their "Mother Clone" Zinfandel, made from a vineyard within the Dry Creek appellation.  The vines were propagated from their ancient, about-100-year-old original parcel of Zinfandel planted by Grandpappy Pedroncelli.  The vines are actually about 30+ years old, though they do blend in the grapes from the quarter acre parcel of original vines.   They also get a bit of fruit from a 50 year old vineyard and another parcel that's close to 20 years of age. 

A blend of Zinfandel and  (14%) Petite Sirah, the 2019 is a delicious wine.  Lots of nice berry fruit and some brown spice tones make for a delightful combination.  It's matured in American oak with 30% of the barrels being brand new.
The wine is not sweet, nor is it the over-the-top style which catches the fancy of wine "tasters," who have a different perspective than wine "drinkers."  On the other hand, it works well with food and you can share the whole bottle with a friend or two and live to tell about it.  

We've found the wine is one of those bottles which seems to benefit from being opened well ahead of time and/or  splashed around in a decanter.  It simply seems a bit quiet or subdued at the outset and then, after an hour, or so, it starts blossoming and showing its true colors.

 

In July of 2017 the winery hosted a 90th Anniversary event for some of its wine industry friends...people from neighboring wineries, distributors across the US and two retail wine merchant from around the country.  We we honored to be on the guest list.
Here's a link to a page with photos and tasting notes from that remarkable day.

 

We tasted a number of old vintages of Zinfandel and they were impressive.

 

Currently in stock:  2019 PEDRONCELLI Dry Creek "Mother Clone" ZINFANDEL $17.99

Julie Pedroncelli-St. John and her Pop, Jim Pedroncelli in 2017

Some Pedroncelli Graffiti...

 

 

 

SEGHESIO

The Seghesio family has been making wine in Sonoma County since the late 1890s.   The winery used to be a "bulk producer" and only in the 1980s did they start bottling their own wines.  The new generation of Seghesios convinced the old-timers that investment in stainless steel, temperature-controlled fermentation tanks (to replace the open-top, cement tanks) and minor details like small oak barrels would be a good idea.  

I knew the "kids" were persistent and they elevated the quality of their wines when they reduced their production in order to focus on elevating the quality of the wines.  

Sadly, though, one of the family was instrumental in engineering the sale of the family business.  Today the winery is owned by a smallish wine company that has interests in Washington, Oregon, Napa and the Central Coast.
One perspective on the sale was that as the family had grown, keeping all the various branches of the family happy was a challenge.  Perhaps selling the whole enterprise to a non-family member might have been for the best.

We know not all the members of the Seghesio family were thrilled with this idea, though.


Winemaker Ted Seghesio stuck it out for a few years after the sale, but as far as we know, there is nobody named Seghesio, though their viticulture is the great-great grandson of the Seghesios.  Ted stepped aside in 2015.

We used to have a stack of Sonoma Zinfandel in the shop but, now being owned by a large company, deals are made with chain stores in order to make large volumes of wines disappear.  As a result, the distributor doesn't offer this to us at a sensible, competitive price level. so we've discontinued carrying this wine.

Currently available:  
2015 Sonoma County Zinfandel (List $26) Sold Out
Sonoma Zin 375ml bottles Sold Out

 

 

ROBERT BIALE

The Biale family has been growing grapes and other crops in the Napa Valley for many years.  

We were early fans of the Biale family's wines after a customer had shared his enthusiasm for their wines one day.  We ended up tasting some of the wines, liking them and bringing them in to the shop.  One customer, seeing the name Robert Biale on the labels, shrieked out "Bob Biale!  He's a chicken farmer!!!"  She had lived in the Napa Valley and used to purchase eggs from the Biale ranch.  

The Biale family came from Italy and settled in the Napa Valley in the 1930s.  Pietro Biale had planted some Zinfandel on the family property and most of the grapes went to the Napa Valley co-op.  But Biale, who worked in a local rock quarry, was killed in some sort of accident there.  His young son, Aldo Biale, learned to make wine having been taught by Pietro's brother Angelo.

Aldo made some wine in addition to cultivating plums, zucchini, etc.  Since he was "under age" at the time, he was afraid of being busted for being in possession of alcohol and, besides, winemaking was regulated by the government so he would need licenses which, as a kid, he could not obtain.
 
Aldo and his mom raised chickens and sold eggs, as well, so he came up with the idea of having customers who wanted wine to ask for the "Black Chicken." (The Tuscan consorzio of Chianti Classico producers had the Gallo Nero (Black Chicken/Rooster) as its symbol). 
You see, the telephone system was such that most people shared what was called a "Party Line."  This means when you picked up the phone, you might hear your neighbors conversing.  
So Aldo Biale instructed customers that when calling to order something, if they wanted wine they should simply as for a "Black Chicken."  

 

They have a vineyard designated as "Black Chicken Ranch" and this site is close to Oak Knoll Avenue in the somewhat cool climate Oak Knoll District just north of the Carneros region.

Somehow in this "cool climate," they make a wine which clocks in at just under 15% alcohol and yet, amazingly, it doesn't show overtly jammy characteristics.  The juice is left with the skins at low temperatures to inhibit the fermentation for a few days...then they warm the tanks and inoculate with yeast.  After the fermentation is completed, the wine goes into French oak cooperage, about 25% of the barrels being brand new.
The 2021 Black Chicken Zin is deep and nicely spicy.  It's a wine showing notes of blackberries and dark cherries...Fruity and I find a nice shading of oak in the wine.
It doesn't seem like a wine that warrants cellaring...it's rather flashy at the start and probably best upon release and maybe a few years following that.

There's a more modestly-priced bottling called "Party Line."  It's a North Coast Zinfandel made from purchased fruit...though the alcohol level is elevated, it's not a bruiser of a Zinfandel, seemingly medium-bodied.  Lots of red fruit notes all the way through and the oak, said to be 25% new, is nicely in the background.
Drinkable immediately, so don't think this is too young to drink.

Currently available:  
2021 "BLACK CHICKEN RANCH" Napa Zinfandel (List $55) SALE $49.99
HALF BOTTLES:  BLACK CHICKEN RANCH (List $30) SALE $26.99
2021 "PARTY LINE" North Coast ZINFANDEL  $25.99

 

Jonathan Lachs in the Cedarville vineyard

CEDARVILLE VINEYARD

The Sierra Foothills seemed to be a hotbed of Zinfandelity back in the early 1970s.  Sutter Home was making its deep, robust Deaver Vineyard Zin, Ridge dabbled with a few Amador Zins and the upstart Monteviña were making waves back in the day.

Since then, Sutter Home makes its money on White Zinfandel, Ridge lost interest in Amador and Monteviña is now owned by Sutter Home and they make 'standard' wines.  

There is a handful of artisan producers in "them thar hills," but while the region was of interest to California connoisseurs back in the 1970s, being on par with Napa and Sonoma, these days you have to look diligently to find some worthy bottlings.

One of our favorite estates is Cedarville, a small "Mom & Pop" cellar owned by a couple of former Bay Area wine geeks.  Jonathan Lachs and Susan Marks had studied winemaking at UC Davis, but took actual "paying" jobs in the Bay Area to save up enough cash to invest in their winemaking endeavor.

In the mid-1990s they took the plunge, buying a property in the town of Fair Play, about a half hour south of Placerville.  
The estate comprises about 20 acres, with 15 of those devoted to vineyards.  They farm "sustainably," farming their grapes organically since 2010.  

 

 

Zinfandel from this vineyard can be rather charming.  The 2016 sure is. 

You'll find a hint of plum and a touch of spice here.  Petite Sirah usually gives a bit of body to the wine and perhaps a spice note, too. While the 2015 was purely Zinfandel, the 2016 has 3% Petite Sirah.  It's a remarkably good bottle.
 It's a ready-to-drink wine...best now and it should hold nicely for another three to five years.

 

Currently in stock:  2016 CEDARVILLE El Dorado ZINFANDEL  SALE $19.99  (last bottles)

 

 

STORYBOOK MOUNTAIN

Dr. Jerry Seps was a professor or European history and he and Mrs. Seps had purchased a "ghost winery" in a remote location up in Calistoga.

The ghosts inhabiting the place were those of the brothers Grimm, but not the legendary story-tellers.  This Grimm family had roots, and still does, we're told, in German wine.  I know there's a Grimm weingut in the Rheinpfalz, so perhaps the boys emigrated from there back in the late 1800s?

Jerry and Sigrid embarked on their enological adventure in 1976 when they bought the place and planted Zinfandel, partly at the suggestion of legendary BV winemaker Andre Tchelistcheff.  In those days, Cabernet Sauvignon was often close in price to Zinfandel, for example.  We fondly recall the first wines from Storybook Mountain...the wines were truly regal in style.  (Andre might have also realized Seps might make better Cabernet there, so he led him "astray" down the Zinfandel road.  Perhaps.)

They're located several miles north of Calistoga and quite close to the border of Sonoma County.  With eastern slopes in the Mayacamas Mountain range, Jerry explains some of the vineyards are close to 2000 feet in elevation.  Plus, many of these vineyards are facing east so they don't see the intense heat which can easily dehydrate the grapes and contribute the over-ripe, jammy notes you find in many Zinfandels.

Over the years, Seps has continued to produce elegant wines.  This, despite the current fashion of "Zins-on-Steroids."  

Jerry has long been passionate about Zinfandel and I know it pained him to see so many vintners creating huge, mammoth wines with plenty of color, too much alcohol and tons of tannin.  Seps, I suppose being an historian, was well aware the market for Zinfandel was nearly killed around the early 1980s since winemakers "pushed the envelope" by making fruit bomb wines which were merely jammy, raisiny reds to the point where many consumers lost interest.  What's the point of buying a wine you cannot drink?  He was also aware of many wineries considering pulling out their Zinfandel in favor of planting more "expensive" varietals such as Chardonnay and Cabernet.

I'd seen Jerry one day and he was preoccupied with calling a winery owner in the Valley to urge him to not pull out his Zinfandel vines! Seps realized he "needed" more wineries making Zinfandel for the variety to continue to be viable in the market.

Jerry was instrumental in founding the ZAP group, Zinfandel Advocates and Producers.  He got a few producers together with Margaret Smith, who'd been at Sunset Magazine years ago and then was working on organizing wine "events."  Together they got ZAP off the ground and today the San Francisco ZAP tasting is pretty much out of control.  Zinfandel sales continue to be strong, thanks to Seps' great efforts.

 

 

 

Though "new" wineries have sprung up over the years and Turley and Robert Biale garner high numerical scores from various critics, Seps has retained his elegant, "claret-styled" Zinfandel.  If you're looking for the huge, late-picked, "gobs-o'-fruit" style of Zinfandel, Storybook Mountain Zin might not be to your taste.  It's not sweet, jammy or "over-the-top"-styled wine.  Jerry, after all, makes wine for "adults" and he makes wine for "wine drinkers."  He is a "living legend" and the hundreds of new Zinfandel producers around the state owe him a major debt of gratitude.  Major.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were really delighted by the "Eastern Exposures" Zinfandel which comes from just about as far north in Napa as can be.
And the eastern exposures allow them to produce a wine of unusual elegance.
They pay attention in the vineyard and usually employ a couple of "green harvests" to regulate the crop level so when it's time to pick, the grapes are more uniformly ripe or mature.
Then they select their best barrels from these east-facing slopes to create a Zinfandel of unusual elegance and finesse.
We've been told they even incorporate a small percentage of Viognier to produce a unique Zinfandel.

This is a world away from the "fruit bomb" style of many California reds, Zinfandel or otherwise.

You'll find this to be drinkable now and we expect it can be cellared for five or ten more years.

And it's one of the few Zinfandels we find worth cellaring for a few years.

This wine is made for adults, rather than kids, if you know what I mean.

 

 

Currently in stock:  
2018 STORYBOOK MOUNTAIN Napa "Eastern Exposures" ZINFANDEL  SALE $49.99  (Last bottles)

 

 

 

JEFF RUNQUIST WINES

Winemaker Jeff Runquist launched his own brand in the mid-1990s after working at a Paul Masson wine facility in the Central Valley, working at Montevina winery in Amador County and then at the J. Lohr winery in San Jose.

Then he became the winemaker at the McManis Family winery in Ripon, California, producing oodles (that's a technical term, well understood by accountants and CPAs) of Central Valley wine.

He's now focused on his own brand and he's making quite a range of different wines.  But his "Z" Zinfandel is a flagship wine for Runquist and the fruit comes from the old Massoni vineyard in Amador County.

Jeff has a good recipe for making this wine and it, like most of his wines, is showy and consumer-friendly in a variety of ways.  

What is especially interesting is that Runquist's Zinfandel is consistent in its big fruit and fragrant oak style.  But we're surprised to learn that Jeff lets his various grape growers "do their thing" in the vineyard.  They even get to make the call as to when the grapes should be picked!  He told us they are the experts in coaxing the maximum character from the vines and they understand his goals in making stylish wine.


If you like a wine that's dark and youthfully purple in color, teeming with berry-like fruit and framed by plenty of cedary oak, this may be your wine.  It's big, but gentle on the palate, another feature of Jeff's wines.  Runquist describes the wine as a "Pinot Noir of Zinfandel."

His style is distinctive, though.  I can tell you I've been invited to be a judge at the San Francisco International Wine Competition tastings each summer.  On the final day when we have the big show-down of picking the best of the best, a Runquist wine is often in the mix.  And I can pick his wines out of the tasting, typically.  

 

Despite his winning a bunch of medals, he remains rather down-to-earth.

One time he was riding around with a sales rep whose portfolio featured lots of wines from winemakers who had lofty opinions of their own wines.  The rep told me "You can buy one case of this winery's Sauvignon Blanc per order, with one per week being the maximum."

I teased Jeff about what he could "learn" from this sort of sales program, but Runquist remarked "You know, the only time I want to tell a customer they can't have my wine is because it's SOLD OUT."

Bravo!

The 2020 is blended with 9% Petite Sirah, Jeff's go-to blending grape for Zin.   The wine is matured in both French and American oak and the wood is always well displayed in the wine, yet there's so much dark berry fruit, you likely won't find it to be woody or over-oaked, despite the rather lavish wood treatment.
We have had several customers who have been befuddled by this wine: "How does he make a Zinfandel that's so good?" they've asked.  
Jeff has been doing this for decades, so he's not a wet-behind-the-ears winemaker.   The fellow simply knows how to make a damned good bottle of Zinfandel and it's well-priced.

Currently in stock:  2020 RUNQUIST "Z" Amador County "Massoni Ranch" ZINFANDEL  $26.99

Jeff and Margie Runquist

 

NALLE

Doug Nalle was the winemaker for an old, long-gone Sonoma winery called Balverne.   He went on to be the winemaker at Quivira, turning out some very fine Zinfandels under that banner.  For years now he's been the captain of his own ship, producing Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley grown-fruit (his wife's family have been vineyard owners forever)...

In his early days of making "Nalle" Zinfandel, this was a much sought-after wine.  Anybody who knew anything about Zinfandel had to have Nalle wine.  Today, though, not many people know the name, since the big, brain-buster style of Zinfandel scores points with the critics.  As a result, Nalle is, today, a bit "under the radar" of most Zin drinkers, though he still has a very loyal following.

Zinfandel comes from older vineyards.  Some from seriously older vines. The Estate Vines are as old as 90-something years.  They also get some fruit from a nearby vineyard called Bernier-Sibary, a mixed planting site. 

 

Years ago, I was fortunate enough to be invited to taste his 2000 vintage out of barrel, back to each and every vintage to 1990.
Doug Nalle apprently had mistaken me for someone important and I was privileged to attend a most interesting tasting.

These wines, for the most part, age quite nicely.   They are not likely to win blind-tastings, as the wines are not the "in-your-face," high alcohol, high oak, slightly sweet concoctions which seem to catch the attention of the critics.

Nalle's Zins are, almost always, less than 14% alcohol.  These are wines for the mature wine drinker, rather than the young whippersnappers out there who need a wine which "rocks." 

 

There's Petite Sirah and Carignane in that Bernier-Sibary "Zinyard" as the Nalles call it.

The 2018 is a robust, but balanced, red wine...lots of dark berry fruit notes...the wine is barrel-aged but you won't easily detect oak as the wood is so beautifully integrated.

This can be paired with all sorts of foods...we enjoyed a bottle in San Francisco with a "Marlowe Burger."

We were hosting some friends from Italy who make Barolo.  We knew they would appreciate a good Burger, so we picked them up at the airport and immediately drove to Marlowe on Brannan Street in San Francisco.
Marlowe does a stellar burger and the wine, served lightly chilled to maybe 50 degrees, was exceptional.

CLICK HERE FOR NALLE ZIN INFO & PHOTOS

Currently available:  
2018 Dry Creek Zinfandel  SALE $39.99

 

NEAL

We've known Mark Neal for many years.  He runs his family's vineyard management business in the Napa Valley, cultivating hundreds of acres of grapes for all sorts of wineries.

He launched his own brand of wine in the late 1990s.  Aside from his wines being well-made and attractive, Mark prices them so consumers can afford to drink them more frequently than once-in-a-lifetime (unlike many Napa vintners).

We like the blackberry fruit notes and there's a faintly spicy tone with some sweet wood elements.

It's a medium-full-bodied red and ready to drink in its youth.

Currently in stock:  2012 NEAL Napa ZINFANDEL  Sold Out

SOBON ESTATE

We met Leon & Shirley Sobon decades ago and they had just started their Shenandoah Vineyards winery.    
Leon had been employed by Lockheed and was a real rocket scientist who also dabbled around as a home winemaker.  

Things got out of control in the early 1980s and their Shenandoah brand was quite popular, allowing them to purchase another old-time, family winery in Amador County:  the D'Agostini Winery.  ((We had been fans of D'Agostini's wines, as they were a good source of modestly-priced Zinfandel or was it simply called "Burgundy"?

 

 

I'm pretty sure the boxes of Sobon Estate Zinfandel makes mention of something like "150 Years of Winemaking."  We remember Leon as being a bit of an "old-timer" back in the 1980s, but we had no idea he was THAT OLD!

Unlike so many brands of wine from Napa and Sonoma, where wines are priced to accommodate fancy automobiles, Ivy League educations for the owner's children and a small yacht in Portofino, the Sobon wines are offered at prices based upon the cost of production, a modest margin to allow them to keep the lights on for another year and gasoline for Leon & Shirley's son-in-law to make sales calls.  

The "Old Vines" bottling is produced with the idea of being immediately drinkable, low in tannin and with plenty of fruit.  And it seems they've nailed it nicely.  

We prefer such a soft, smooth red served at cool cellar temperature (lightly chilled to 45-55 degrees).  It's not a wine for aging, so enjoy the wine while it's young.

There's a special bottling coming from Pre-Prohibition era vines. 

It's blended with a bit of Petite Sirah and matured in both French and American oak.

We've included this in blind-tastings of California Zinfandels.  It easily competes against wines in the $30 to $50 and the Sobon Rocky Top ( a couple of years ago ) was the first place finisher by a good margin.

The wine is beautifully balanced, showing nice fruit and mildly woodsy notes.  It's not especially tannic, so we'd suggest drinking it in the near-term, not holding it for a lengthy time frame.

You can easily pair this with all sorts of California cuisine, Mediterranean fare, etc.

Currently in stock:  2019 SOBON ESTATE Amador County "Old Vines" ZINFANDEL  Sale $10.99   (yes, that's right...ten dollars and ninety-nine cents.)
2020 SOBON ESTATE "ROCKY TOP" ZINFANDEL   $14.99

 

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