2015 Blasi Zinfandel

Vanilla and clove notes with fig and cherry fruit to the nose. Full bodied with a soft texture, layered brambly fruit and a long lingering finish. JO (8/17)

Gary Blasi has been farming this three-acre vineyard for over forty years. Located in the Chalk Hill AVA, these gnarly, head-trained vines are over 100 years old. Our first vintage of Blasi Zinfandel offers plentiful fruit, a full, soft texture and balanced acidity. Enjoyable on release, it will continue developing for another five years.

Gary Blasi has been farming these old vines for over forty years on a handshake agreement with owner Jim Metcalfe. This is the first time wine from this hidden treasure has been bottled separately with Gary’s name on the label.

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 and finished quickly.

Harvest Dates: 3 September
Grapes: Average brix 25.7
Fermentation: Natural primary and secondary for six days in small fermentors
Barrels: 100% air-dried american oak: (20% new, 50% one and two years old and 30% three and four years old).
Aging: 12 months in barrel

All Blasi estate grown grapes, hand-harvested; destemmed and crushed; fermented on the native yeasts, followed by full malolactic on the naturally occurring bacteria; 2.5% water added; minimum effective sulfur for this wine (35 ppm at crush, 68 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.

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