Red - Zinfandel

Armida Maple Vineyards Zinfandel 2018 is harvested on 10 separate days throughout a three week span. Varying ripeness in each lot of wine displays different flavors. Combination of American, French, and Eastern European Oak Barrel aging. Medium to full bodied, with structure and texture to match many dishes. Dark black fruits are balanced with savory spices. The seductive finish isn’t cloying and sweet, but rather refined, lush and succulent, and the integrated tannins and great balance of savory and spice will continue to gain in complexity over the next fifteen years.

The August Briggs Old Vine Zinfandel 2018 is a combination of two local historic vineyards and we are excited at the addition of the famed Canard Vineyard for the ‘Old Vines’ bottling. The Canard Vineyard (formerly named Tucker Ranch) is one of the oldest in Calistoga and they source fruit from a mix of vine plantings from the 1920’s and 1870’s! That fruit is added in with the amazing 1906 Luvisi vineyard zinfandel and well… its dynamite in a bottle! The effusive aromas of this wine jump out and grab you letting you know that your mouth is in for a special treat! Dark ruby in color with aromas of raspberry jam, boysenberry, clove and brambleberry. This is what you can call an old style Zinfandel. This is a Zin that will drink tonight but will improve with another 4-7 years of aging. 350 cases produced.

I am always impressed by what people did before the wine world.  Here's two sisters – Mary and Nadine Roy who owned and operated a radiology business in Illinois and now have been running Capo Creek Ranch for the last 4 years. Mary Roy is the mother of six and previous owner/lead physician of Midwest Center for Advanced Imaging, specializing in MRI and Women's Imaging. Nadine Roy was a co-owner and executive director of that business and has now been certified as a sommelier and works alongside her sister, the winemaker. 

This estate old vine zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley is full of juicy fruit flavors dominated by dark cherry, black raspberry & pomegranate. Red licorice and a touch of spice from choice oak barrels balance it nicely and adds a complexity that makes every sip a delight. 350 cases produced.

Gold Medal in the 2021 SF Chronicle National Wine Competition

Most everyone is familiar with Bottle Shock, a 2008 American comedy-drama film based on the 1976 wine competition termed the “Judgment of Paris” when California wine defeated French wine in a blind tasting. That winery was Chateau Montelena in Napa and the Chateau Montelena Zinfandel 2017 certainly lives up to the accolades of the past. Brambly and dark with compounding waves of dried cherry, cedar, and Chinese five-spice, the wine opens with effusive fruit and, after a few moments, fresh roses. The energetic nature of the palate perfectly reflects the complexity of the growing season as bright acid contrasts black pepper, which yields to plenty of ripe raspberry and cherry candy. This, in turn, transitions to fresh mint and abundant spicy cloves. It’s spice that drives the finish with tension and grace as the fine-grain tannins slowly give way to dark-roasted coffee bean and a hint of lemon zest.

The Heart Arrow ranch is one of the finest biodynamic farms in Mendocino County—a completely self-contained ecosystem where not only grapes but vegetables, fruit-trees, pigs, cows, lambs, and chickens all make a self-sustaining microcosm without herbicides or pesticides. The combination of these farming techniques and Dashe Cellars winemaking techniques work to make this an unusual Zinfandel, one that is very different in aroma, flavor, and structure than a classic California Zinfandel, and more like a wine from Burgundy or Beaujolais. How is this wine different? First of all, they don’t crush the grapes but instead use whole clusters and uncrushed destemmed grapes to create a “carbonic maceration” style of wine. They ferment the wine with the native yeasts on the grapes; age the wine in a huge 900 gallon French oak barrel; and bottle the wine with low SO2 levels.
It is extremely aromatic – black cherry, pomegranate, earth, violets, clove, and black pepper. The Dashe Cellars Zinfandel 2017 Les Enfants Terribles, Heart Arrow Ranch, Mendocino shows excellent fruit and mineral aromas, and the wine has an absolutely beautiful texture and depth of flavor. Enjoy the flavors of black cherry, pomegranate, strawberry, black raspberry, chocolate, minerals, and black pepper. Although this wine is beautiful to drink right now, it can improve with age as well, at least 8 years from the vintage date.