2006 Old Vine Zinfandel "Wisdom"

The good and the bad of it:

The Good; Very early after the crush of the 2006 Zinfandel we realized that we had a Mendocino Zinfandel nearly complete as is, so this years blend is 90% Zinfandel vs. 78% Zinfandel in the 2005 vintage.

The Bad; The fact that we had slightly less Zinfandel in 2006 and that the final blend is 12% higher proportion Zinfandel than last year, resulted in a smaller vintage this year (2007 vintage will be more!)

The Wine:
We started with our favorite Zinfandel grapes which grow on a beautiful 35 year old vineyard that Dennis has been working with for Eleven years consecutively, the Brown vineyard. This fruit consistently yields intense spicy flavors and he has used it in super premium wine projects for other clients and we are excited to have it under our label. The Zin comprises 90% of the blend.

For the 06 vintage we have included 5% of a very special old vine Barbera vineyard in Redwood Valley. This variety is commonly planted in California's hot central valley where its natural high acidity gives some life to the often flat wines, (like the land). It is not a common variety in Napa Sonoma or Mendocino where it has been overlooked in the rush to Cabernet. Barbera is attracting more attention now as wines produced from the few mature sites made with top modern winemaking practices exhibit great color, beautiful perfume and depth of flavor never found in the lesser districts. The site we are using has two sections, one over fifty years old and one not quite ten years old. Both are making great wine. Dennis has contracted to buy this fruit for eight years now from Rick Piffero a third generation grape grower here in Mendocino County. One of the benefits of being in this business for so many years is that we have a large inventory of wines available to use as "spice" in our Zinfandel which adds complexity to the end product. Expect the unexpected with Wisdom.

We have also blended in 5% Petite Sirah from a newer vineyard that friends at Mendocino Wine Company have planted for their top end projects. This fruit is not for sale, but here again is where being a Mendocino graybeard gave us access to fruit not on the open market as they were glad to help when we found that blending in the tiny amount of Petite Sirah into Wisdom really added weight and enhanced the finish of our 06 Zinfandel. This site is a great bench at the foot of the steep mountain that forms the Western edge of the Ukiah Valley. Everything in this 100 acre vineyard has been planted for the use of the Mendocino Wine Company so I thank my friends again for allowing me to use a little of their best fruit for our Wisdom Zinfandel project.

Cheers!
Dennis & Bill