28 posts
 Ridge Vineyards was founded in 1959 when four Stanford Research Institute engineers—David Bennion, Charles Rosen, Hewitt Crane, and Howard Zeidler—purchased a mountainside property on the Monte Bell...
Easton Wines was founded in the late 80s by husband and wife team Bill Easton and Jane O’Riordan. Bill puts his family name, EASTON, on their non-Rhône varietal wines. The wines are crafted from varieties that have traditionally worked the best in A...
Koerner and Joan Rombauer established Rombauer Vineyards in 1980, and in 1984 they released their first California-style Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon wines. One interesting note about the Rombauer family is that Koerner’s great aunt Irma Rombau...
This Sonoma Grove 2022 Zinfandel is produced for the Navigator Wine Collection (formerly Precision Wine Company). They cellar and bottle the wine. The actual wine producer is not available. Sonoma Grove wine is from Sonoma County, a great region for...
Rich Frank, the founder of Frank Family Winery, developed a passion for wine, particularly Bordeaux and Italian wines, during his extensive travels as the former President of Disney Studios. In the 1980s, he discovered his love for the Napa Valley an...
Cline Family Cellars, a certified sustainable family-owned and operated winery and vineyard holder based in the Carneros wine appellation of Sonoma County, California, has recently announced the introduction of Cline Family Cellars Sonoma AVA Series,...
Fred Cline founded Cline Family Cellars in 1982 in Oakley, California, which is part of Conta Costa County. With this 40th year vintage, they have created the special anniversary bottle design shown in the photo. The 2020 Ancient Vines Zinfandel dra...
Silvia Cellars is a small family-owned winery whose mission is to produce a small number of high-quality California wines from some of California’s best vineyards. And, matching vineyard to variety is the key to their process for producing outstandin...
Rombauer’s El Dorado (“the golden”) Vineyard is located 1,650 feet above sea level in the Sierra Foothills of El Dorado County, California. Its sandy soils, high elevation, and warm days and cool night air are ideal for growing Zinfandel. The grapes...
The inspiration for Silvia Cellars began in 1885 on a family owned vineyard in Sicily. Striving to create quality wine for his dinner table, Nonno Silvia shared a passion for vendemmia (harvesting) of his vines with the members of his family. Over ...
This Rockpile Zinfandel is produced by Mauritson wines in Heldsburg CA. The Rockpile Ridge Vineyard is located at nearly 1,200 feet in elevation in the Rockpile appellation. This vineyard has sweeping sun exposures from southeast to northwest and c...
This week’s Behind the Cork™ feature is a special one. During my last visit to Alexander Valley Vineyards I had the pleasure of spending time in the tasting room with Denise Gill, their Tasting Room Manager. And, I got to taste a bunch of really grea...
This handcrafted Old Vine Zinfandel from winemaker Randle Johnson comes from northern California’s Mendocino County. Johnson has been the man behind Artezin’s wines since their inception in 2002. The vision behind Artezin is to honor the art of cra...
This was a recent unexpected fine. I really enjoy the wines of Amador County and that’s what caught my eye about this one. And, at $8, I had to give it a try. The grapes of Amador County didn’t let me down. This is a nice Zinfandel, especially at th...
California’s Gold Rush of the 1850s included the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. As fortune seekers flocked to the Sierras to prospect for gold, small wineries also began to appear. But the decline of gold mining in the late 18...
Zinfandel is a very popular California wine. One that can take on two very different flavor personalities. Zinfandel that is grown in warm places usually results in grapes that get very ripe and produce big jammy “fruit bomb” flavors. High alcohol...
I’ve had my eyes on this one for a while now. It differentiates itself by noting on the front label that it is “Bourbon Barrel Aged.” Aging wines in oak barrels is common, but I’ve not seen a wine aged in Bourbon barrels. So, I was actually a bit...
This Zinfandel comes from California’s Mendocino County that has a climate with warm days and cool evenings that provides for great growing conditions and optimal ripening. Winemaker Randle Johnson, who has been with Artezin since its inception in 20...
Excellent Zinfandels come from Lodi. And, at $6 for this one is a steal. Along with being a great value, this Cline Zinfandel has real nice spice and pepper notes with nice fruit that isn’t jammy. Wines at this price point can sometimes be iffy, but...
Tobin James is one of the larger producers in Paso Robles. Located on the east side of Highway 101, this winery has a salon-style tasting room and a fun atmosphere. The Ballistic Zinfandel is one of their flagship wines. Paso Robles is known for the...
Another good one from Sonoma’s Manzanita Creek. This Cloud Buster is labeled as a Zinfandel varietal as it should be since it is produced with at least 75% Zinfandel (80% to be precise). But, as is typical, winemakers then blend in other grapes to...
Manzanita Creek is a super winery in the town of Healdburg in Sonoma County. And this 8th Street Zinfandel is a really nice one. Great jammy flavors, easy tannin and just the right amount of oak to give it a bit of spiciness. The winery lists this w...
This Zinfandel has great dark fruit flavors, a bit of black pepper and nice chocolate, vanilla and caramel from its oak aging. While this Zinfandel varietal is made from at least 75% of the Zinfandel variety of grape, it is also blended with some Pet...
Just having featured “Old Vine Zinfandel - Is it Better?” I thought it would be good to bring back a wine that was featured in this blog last year. This old vine Zinfandel comes from vines that are 60 to 80 years old. These old vines produce small, c...
Often, you’ll see the words “Old Vine” on the label of a Zinfandel. But what does it really mean and does it equate with a better wine? First, you need to realize that “Old Vine” is not a regulated term. It can appear on any bottle of wine. Most in...
This was a recent find of a Russian River Valley Zin that doesn’t break the bank. This Zin tends toward being light for a Zinfandel. It’s almost leaning toward a light-bodied wine, almost like a Pinot Noir. This Zinfandel has hints of peppery flavor...
This Zinfandel from Lodi comes from 50 to 100 year old vines. And it’s a big jammy Zinfandel. Loaded with flavors of blackberries, raspberries, chocolate and mocha, it’s smooth with very soft tannin. This is a great value that goes well with anything...
It’s always fun to find and try new and different wines. And, when it comes to exploring “Old World Wines” it can be even more of an adventure. That’s what happened to me when studying the shelves of Italian wines. I came across a completely unknown ...