Among a bunch of different single vineyard zins, I tried their 2020 Juvenile Zinfandel. As you might already know, zinfandel arrived from Croatia in Italy, where it’s known as primitivo. It’s also still grown in Croatia and called Crljenak Kastelanski and Pribidrag.
From the company’s website:
Though the vast majority of our wines are single vineyard designates, Juvenile is actually composed of a variety of young vines that have been replanted in several of our most heralded old vine sites. The vines that make up Juvenile range in age from about 6-25 years, and we pull from 18 of our best vineyards across California, including Hayne, Ueberroth, Pesenti, Salvador, Vineyard 101, Fredericks and Kirschenmann.We tag the vine when we replant it so as not to mix the brand new vine with its much older neighbors, then pick these young vines separately and make a distinct wine.
Gee, only six to 25 year old vines. Just a baby, really!
The color is gorgeous reddish purple. On the palate it’s fresh and a lot of acidity, with a note of cocoa that juts out strangely. It hasn’t developed the older wines’ depth and development of flavor. It’s a nice sipping wine, and would go great with tomato saucy barbecue. At just $20 a bottle (in February), it’s one of the winery’s less pricey offerings and a good value for money. But I think next time I’ll save my pennies for some of their single-vineyard bottles.
