2005 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel
Appellation Selection
  
 


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The Vineyards:

The Dry Creek Valley is home to some of the oldest and most prized Zinfandel vineyards in the world. It has the famed terra rosa , hillside soils combined with warmer day temperatures and cooler evening temperatures that create the concentrated flavors and aromas of classic Zinfandel. In this vintage, we emulated the traditional field blends that many of the first Italian immigrants planted, combining Zinfandel with Mourvedre and Petite Sirah. The Zinfandel was sourced from a historic vineyard planted in 1886. We selected grapes from two vineyard blocks, one aged 60 to 80 years old, trained in the classic, knobby head-trained, spur-pruned method. The other vineyard block is aged 20 to 30 years old, trained on wires with the bi-lateral cordon method.

The Vintage
One of the joys of working with old vine Zinfandel and Petite Sirah vineyards is that they produce outstanding grapes in almost any weather conditions. Historically a hot, yet semi-coastal climate, the Dry Creek Valley cooled off during August, lengthening the ripening process and creating an intriguing spiciness and intense cranberry and raspberry fruit notes. Temperatures remained moderate through September, providing ideal ripening conditions. All of the Zinfandel was harvested on October 6 th, almost three weeks later than usual.
Winemaking
The grapes were de-stemmed, although half of the berries were not crushed for soft tannins. Both Zinfandel lots were cold soaked for 3 to 4 days, a classic Zinfandel technique to extract color and flavor without aquiring aggressive tannins. The wine was pressed off the skins and allowed to settle in the tank for 3 weeks to finish fermentation. Then, we racked it into 30% new Russian and Hungarian barrels, with the balance being 1 year old French oak barrels. We find that the European oak compliments the lush, berry fruit of Zinfandel. In springtime, we blended this wine with Petite Sirah and Mourvedre, modeling the classic Italian field blend. The wine was then allowed to reside in the same barrels into September. Then, after a total of 10 months of barrel aging it was racked out, filtered and bottled.
Winemaker's Notes
Deep violet and ruby color with glints of rosy pink at the rim of the glass. Aromatically, the Zinfandel has the characteristic bramble-type berry notes of a Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel. On the palate, the tannins are very plush and submissive, creating a velvety mouthfeel balanced by a touch of acidity and bright berry fruit flavors. The oak aging is apparent in the spice of white pepper, cinnamon, vanilla and cocoa, melding together for a long finish of dried cherries. The fresh fruit notes of this wine beg to be enjoyed young; however, the tannin structure and acid balance indicate that this Zinfandel will age beautifully over the next three years.
 
Mark R. Lyon, Winemaker
Technical Data
Appellation: Dry Creek Valley Composition: 75.2% Zinfandel; 10.8% Mourvedre; 10.4% Petite Sirah; 3.5% Syrah
Cooperage: Aged 10 months in new and used Russian, French and Hungarian Oak Alcohol: 14.5%
TA: .52 g/100ml pH: 3.59
Bottling Date: November 2006 Release Date:  

Past Vintages (downloadable pdf files):

2004

Awards and Acclaim:

2004 Vintage

88 Points and One Puff from Connessieurs Guide to California Wine: "Keenly defined and solidly filled with no undue reliance on excessive ripeness, this nicely balanced, medium-full-bodied Zinfandel is plush on the palate and shows plenty of blackberry fruit. It tends ever so slightly to finishing dryness but is free of the heat that mars so many of its mates, and it succeeds as an eminently food-worthy wine with some potential for age."

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