2019 Zinfandel

Mellowood Vineyard, Fair Play

Tasting Notes

This classic Foothills style Zinfandel is medium garnet in color with dried dark fruit aromas, intense brambly fruit, and Chambord. Those carry on to the palate with an additional burst of tobacco and nutmeg spice flavors followed by bright acidity and a lingering finish.

Winemaking Notes

These grapes grew on the steep hillside Mellowood Vineyard in Fair Play. Due to the slope, we find the bottom of the vineyard ripens more slowly than the top of the vineyard, producing a range of ripeness at harvest that adds to complexity. To produce this bold style of Zinfandel we picked the grapes late in the season, in October. At that point the grapes at the top of the vineyard were quite ripe with a lot of sugar, while the grapes at the bottom of the vineyard still retained a perfect amount of acidity to balance this bold wine.

We destemmed and crushed the grapes to tank where we bled off 20% of the juice for rosé prior to fermentation, increasing the skin to juice ratio for more structure in the wine. The wine completed 50% native yeast fermentation and then we inoculated with a yeast strong enough to finish the fermentation. After fermentation we pressed the wine to barrels to age.

Food Pairing

We love pairing this wine with a hearty lasagna with red sauce and sausage, chili, pizza, smoked brisket, barbecue pork ribs or pulled pork with sauce. This is a wine that wants to pair with big flavors!

Aging

Aged 60% in medium plus toast American Oak and 40% Neutral Oak for 18 months.

Wine Specs

100% Zinfandel