Winemaker's Notes
The 2018 vintage has given us more acidity-driven wines than usual, making them even more food-friendly. At the August barrel tasting I had assembled just one barrel from all the components in the proportions I intended to use, while the rest of the barrels remained on initial lees happily resting until just before bottling. This has allowed the wines to perfectly fill into their structural frames.
Rose petal, plummy/savory, red-fruited at the core, it has settled into a groove. It is a bit more texturally plush than the Shale Terrace. Yet it really personifies the 2018 vintage as a beautiful, acidity-driven vintage not unlike what our 1992 Zinfandel vintage illustrated. Right after the 92 was released it showed beautiful red raspberry fruit and a gentle, mouth-watering finish and it has aged magnificently. That, our second release, really made an impression and has informed my choices over the following decades: Truly a touchstone vintage. I think this 2018 is another one. This wine should pair well with duck, tomato-based Mediterranean preparations, Moussaka, and even calamari.
