2016 Guadagni Zinfandel

Juicy blackberry and currant on the nose with hints of vanilla, clove and anise. Full-bodied with rich well coated tannins, long, lingering finish. JO (7/18)

Owned and farmed by the Guadagni family for over fifty years, this vineyard is at the northern edge of the Dry Creek Valley. Planted primarily to zinfandel; petite sirah from an adjacent parcel added color and depth. We limited pump-overs to once daily and pressed early as color and tannin were plentiful. Our first release from this vineyard is a sensuous yet structured zinfandel. Enjoyable young, it will age for seven-to-eight years.

Owned and farmed by the Guadagni family for over fifty years, this vineyard grows in the rocky soils at the northern edge of the Dry Creek Valley. Planted primarily to zinfandel; petite sirah from an adjacent parcel was added this year for color and depth. We limited pump-overs to once daily and pressed after eight days of fermentation as color and tannin were plentiful.

Rainfall: 38 inches (below normal)
Bloom: Mid-May
Weather: A wet December and January helped ease the drought which emphatically ended in March. Cool weather in April reduced our crop a bit. Harvest started late August and finished in early September.

Harvest Dates: 8 & 9 September
Grapes: Average Brix 24.9°
Fermentation: Natural primary and natural secondary (malolactic) fermentations; once daily pump-overs; pressed at eight days.
Barrels: 100% air-dried american oak barrels (15% new, 15% two years old, 30% three and four years old, and 25% five years old).
Aging: Ten months in barrel

Hand-harvested; sustainably farmed, Guadagni estate-grown organic grapes; destemmed and crushed; fermented on the native yeasts, followed by a full malolactic on the naturally occurring bacteria; 1.2 % water addition during fermentation; oak from barrel aging; minimum effective sulfur for this wine (35 ppm at crush, 76 ppm during aging); pad filtered at bottling. In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention, this is the sum of our actions.

Average Rating: 89.7

No. of Tasting Notes: 48

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