***FUTURES OFFER, SHIPPING BEGINS EARLY-APRIL***
It doesn’t take much to convince our team to head up to Dry Creek Valley for a tasting. Widely considered the world’s greatest Zinfandel growing region, it retains all its rustic charm – idyllic rolling hills, no traffic lights, and a single general store dating back to the 1800s. Driving through, you can’t help but feel that not much has changed. Let’s just say there was a spirited discussion for the final seat in the car.
Though its ancestral home lies on the Croatian coast, Zinfandel (a.k.a. Primitivo) found its modern home here after European immigrants brought it to California following the Gold Rush. Today, not only does the region produce world-class wine, but it remains a stronghold of independent winemaking tradition – several families that started making wine for their dinner tables over 150 years ago are still running local wineries today. Their generations’ worth of viticultural wisdom and unwavering devotion to craft are a bastion of soul in an industry that grows seemingly more corporate with each passing year.
Lot 536 is an estate, single-vineyard, 100% old-vine Zinfandel grown in the appellation’s coveted eastern bench. Crafted by a family-owned winery near Dry Creek Road under many generations of stewardship, they’re renowned for archetypal (and high-scoring) expressions of the varietal, and this hotly anticipated 2023 vintage release is one of their signature offerings. Simultaneously bold, balanced, and terroir-driven, it showcases a masterful finesse found only in the very best Zinfandels. A limited program only available direct from the winery at $60+/bottle, we’ve secured a parcel of their unreleased ’23s for over 75% OFF, and as usual, are happy to pass incredible savings along to you – a sublime Dry Creek Zin from an apex vintage for barely $14 per bottle!
Our price: $169/case DELIVERED, $14+/bottle to your door.
In the alluvial soils of Dry Creek Valley’s eastern bench, these gnarled, head-trained vines bask in ample afternoon sun; during 2023’s consistently cool weather, this easterly exposure played beautifully. The berries ripened slowly, retaining acidity while achieving full phenolic maturity. As has been their tradition for decades, our source took a minimalist approach in the cellar to preserve the world-class terroir and let the varietal character shine. Hand-harvested and hand-sorted, the wine was fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged in a mix of French and American oak barrels (about 70/30).
This beauty boasts an exceptional bouquet of blackberries, raspberries, and peach preserves accented by cinnamon, hibiscus, and new leather. An astoundingly refined entry for a Zin reveals leather, blackberries, tobacco, and dried herbs integrated seamlessly with medium acidity and medium-grained, uniform tannins. On the exit, blackberry, baking spices, vanilla bean, and crushed gravel trade waves over a dry, medium-length finish.
