2019 Zinfandel
Description
Winemaking Notes
Fresh, bright berry fruit form our heritage Russian River vineyard, combined with the ripe, peppery jam from our Alexander Valley and Dry Creek vineyards, make for a wonderful diversity of flavor, showcasing the best that Zinfandel can offer. This wine boasts notes of blackberry, plum and boysenberry with a touch of red fruit jam and creamy vanilla. Enjoy this Zinfandel now with spiced short ribs, pulled pork sandwiches or a barbeque chicken pizza.
History
When Rod Strong first acquired benchland acreage on Westside Road just behind the winery, he wisely chose to leave untouched, the 15 acres of old, gnarled Zinfandel vines that had been thriving since 1904. Today, we still harvest Zinfandel from those same old vines, along with a handful of vineyards we farm to the north in Alexander and Dry Creek Valleys.
The Vineyards
2019 was another fantastic vintage in California. In Sonoma County it started with a copious amount of rain saturating the soil in late winter and early spring. Early summer heat waves acclimated the vines to warmer weather, which allowed the grapes to withstand a later heat spell in August, moving the sugars higher and allowing flavors to ripen. With all things in balance, we harvested October 1-4.