2007 Buchignani Zinfandel

The 2007 growing season got off to an early start at Buchignani Ranch; budbreak began the first week of April. Unlike the vineyard’s carignane vines, which set a very small crop, the zinfandel vines set a full, balanced one. A cooler-than-normal August meant fewer shriveled berries; sugar levels, therefore, were moderate. We picked this small, seven acre block in three passes—August 30, September 3 and 4. The grapes were fully crushed, and their juice pumped over the floating cap of skins every day during the seven-day natural yeast fermentation. After pressing, the wine was racked to air-dried american oak for twelve months’ aging. Firm tannins and bright, intense fruit mark the 2007 Buchignani Zinfandel. This rich—yet elegant—wine may be enjoyed now, in its youth, and over the next five years, as it matures.

This wine comes from a small planting of old-vine zinfandel on the Buchignani Ranch on Dutcher Creek Road in the hills north of Dry Creek Valley. (Carignane planted on the rest of the ranch provides a separate ATP selection.) The zinfandel block, approximately five acres in size, was planted sixty to seventy years ago. The vines are on a rocky knoll overlooking the family home where Stan Buchignani, grandson of the ranch’s founder, Domenico Cerruti, lives today.

Rainfall: 35 inches (below average), a dry spring.
Bloom: Mid-May
Weather: Dry spring with a mild summer and fall. No sustained heat spells.

Harvest Date : 30 August – 3 September
Grapes: Average Brix 25.3˚
Fermentation: Grapes fermented on the naturally occurring yeasts. In-tank malolactic also carried out without inoculation. Pressed at seven days.
Barrels: Air-dried american oak barrels: 15% new oak, 35% one to two years old, 30% three years old and 20% four years old.
Aging: Twelve months in barrel

Average Rating: 89.6

No. of Tasting Notes: 53

View this wine on CellarTracker

See all food pairing recipes we have created specifically for this wine.