Winemaker's Notes
This growing season started and ended later than usual. It was also an overall rather cool vintage. Acidity was perfectly bright but not excessive in the grapes and wonderful flavors occurred at slightly lower than typical sugar levels. Of course, we harvested when grapes tasted perfect for what we wanted and before the heavy rainfall that came even later. 1993, 1999, 2001 were highly heralded vintages that were also ‘late,’ while 2011 was a real sleeper that yielded amazing wines when harvested before any of the late September rains (lots of wines were this category). The best parts of these kinds of vintages are what many winemakers have asked for over decades.
What I try to accomplish in the turmoil of various types of growing seasons is to keep a stylistic vision of elegance, restraint and deliciousness for the vintages. The delicious 2023 vintage was one of those that I absolutely embrace, typifying the best facets of elegance and restraint. Throw me back into that briar patch any time, br’er Fox…
What a joy to find a Zin with red raspberry, black cherry and hibiscus tea aromas. I find myself in a hurry to sip this as the aromas are so inviting. Very textural and mouthwatering, without being heavy at all, this epitomizes the elegance that this variety can show while still being recognizable as Zinfandel (to me, at least). The flavors follow the aromas quite closely, with a beautiful, long, cleansing and juicy finish. It reminds me of our 1992 vintage (still going strong, by the way) that my friend and San Francisco wine seller Tom Elliot described as Chambolle in Sonoma. This bottling is set up to perfectly showcase the lovely cool growing season we had in 2023.
