2015 Hooker Creek Zinfandel

Peppery blackberry nose, dried fig, toasty oak, dark layered fruit on the palate, rich full mouth-feel, lingering finish with a hint of licorice. JO(1/17)

Another dry growing season began early at this Sonoma Valley vineyard. Aided by early August heat, the field blend of zinfandel, petite sirah and alicante bouschet ripened quickly. We harvested on August 22, the earliest in the three years we have produced this wine. Ripe fruit and supple tannins make this zinfandel appealing now, it will continue evolving for another five years.

This wine comes from old zinfandel vines planted along Hooker Creek north of the town of Glen Ellen in Sonoma Valley. These old vines were planted one hundred and twenty seven years ago on a part of the Agua Caliente Spanish Land grant purchased from General Vallejo by Joseph Hooker and William Sherman in 1854. Despite an ethically questionable life style, “Fighting Joe” Hooker went on to command the Army of the Potomac in 1863 as a major general. After losing the battle of Chancellorsville to a Confederate force under Robert E. Lee, half the size of his army, he was relieved of command. This is the third harvest from this vineyard.

Rainfall: 33.2 inches (just below normal)
Bloom: Mid-May
Weather: Very wet December, followed by the driest January on record (0.05”). Cool, wet late spring helped with rainfall totals, but reduced our crop across all varieties. Harvest started early (mid-August) and finished quickly.

Harvest Dates: 22 August
Grapes: Average brix 24.8˚
Fermentation: Grapes destemmed and crushed, pumped over a floating cap. Pressed at nine days.
Barrels: 100% air-dried american oak barrels (20% new, 80% five years old).
Aging: Twelve months in barrel

Hand-harvested grapes; destemmed and crushed; fermented on the native yeasts, followed by full malolactic on the naturally occurring malolactic bacteria; 2.5% water added; 1.9g/L tartaric acid; oak from barrel aging; minimum effective sulfur for this wine (35 ppm at crush, 54 ppm over the course of aging); pad filtered at bottling. In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention, this is the sum of our actions.

Average Rating: 88.3

No. of Tasting Notes: 23

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