Wine & Spirits - June 2021 - 51

Year's Best US Zinfandel and Mixed Blacks
zin. The cherry flavors turn meatier with air
as they combine with stony tannins, leaving
a brisk and clean impression. Decant it for a
salad of duck confit. -J.G. (385 cases) §

90 | Ridge

$36

2019 Rockpile (Best Buy) ^ Blending zinfandel (71 percent) with the blueberry-syrup
richness of petite sirah, this is a dense red
with cranberry-like acidity to corral the pleasant sweetness. There's a toasted bread note in
the end, with oak over stony mineral tannins.
For the cellar. -J.G. (1,300 cases) §

SONOMA COAST

91 | Radio-Coteau

$54

2017 Sonoma Coast Lemorel Zinfandel ^
Eric Sussman farms his Occidental estate
under biodynamic practices, which may
have special benefits for the oldest vines on
his estate, zinfandel planted in 1946. This is
silky and pungently smoky when you pull
the cork, tasting of bright red raspberries.
It integrates over the course of several days
open, developing complexity and layers of
flavors. A rare and delicious far-coast zinfandel. -J.G. §

S O N O M A V A L L E Y/
M O O N M O U N TA I N

93 | Dane Cellars

$40

2018 Moon Mountain District Los Chamizal Vineyard Zinfandel ^ Bart Hansen made
wine for 20 years before starting his own label
in 2007, named after his son, Dane. Based in
Sonoma Valley, Hansen makes this wine from
the higher elevation parcels at a vineyard on
Moon Mountain, the vines planted in 1976
on fractured basalt. He gives the fruit a fourday cold soak, then allows it to warm and
spontaneously start to ferment. The wine
ages for 24 months in neutral French oak
barrels, where it develops depth and richness
while still remaining fresh and clean. This is
fragrant zin, its cool woodland scents turning
toward thyme and a blanket of spices over
pomegranate and raspberry flavors. Ready
to decant for grilled lamb. -J.G. (125 cases) §

92 | Once & Future

$55

2019 Sonoma Valley Old Hill Ranch Zinfandel ^ William McPherson Hill had been
growing grapes for three decades when he
replanted his vines due to phylloxera, in
the 1880s. Those vines survive to this day,
planted on St. George rootstock, in a mix of
more than 16 varieties. Joel Peterson helped
resuscitate the vineyard in 1983, after Otto
and Anne Teller purchased the property; he

worked with the fruit in a single-vineyard
bottling for Ravenswood and now employs
the 135-year-old vines for Once & Future.
This is a classical Sonoma Valley red with
the concentration of old-vine mixed-black
grapes. It's bold (15 degrees alcohol) and
the gamey intensity of the tannins may overwhelm the uninitiated, but if you love oldvine zin, this one is bright, fresh and luscious.
-J.G. (302 cases) §

91 | Robert Biale

SONOMA COUNTY AVA

OREGON

91 | James Rahn

$49

2018 Ribbon Ridge Omero Vineyard
Trousseau Noir ^ Rahn's trousseau is true to
the variety, with a plum and pepper scent
and a texture that feels polished. It has a dark
core of plum flavor that reaches a clove-like
depth, marked by a fruit-skin tannic grip. For
seared duck breast. -P.J.C. (124 cases) § ●

$20

2019 Sonoma County Zinfandel (Best
Buy) ^ A clean and fresh, fruit-forward zin, this
wine's sappy black cherry flavors last with a
transparent red fruit glow. The brisk tannins
will take on most anything off the grill this
summer. -J.G. (2,000 cases) §

88 | Kirkland Signature

$22

2018 Sonoma County Old Vines Zinfandel
(Best Buy) ^ Black, ripe and boozy, this is a
big zin with enough tannic structure to hold
and boost the prune and blueberry flavors.
A sweet and gentle red for barbecue. -J.G.
(50,860 cases) §

$75

2018 Moon Mountain Monte Rosso Vineyard Zinfandel ^ Monte Rosso rises into the
Mayacamas to elevations of 1,500 feet above
Sonoma Valley and the San Francisco Bay.
The volcanic soils sustain many of the vines
originally planted in the 1880s, their deep
roots a cool contrast to the sun ripening
their fruit. The wine shares that cool tone
and sunny sweetness, with full on red fruit,
bright black raspberry and earthy black tannins touched by an orange zest acidity. It's an
old-vine wine with energy, bringing you back
for more. -J.G. (225 cases) §

91 | Inconspicuous

88 | St. Francis

$10

2018 Sonoma County Old Vine Zinfandel (Best Buy) ^ Dark, smoky and dense, with
scents of ground chocolate, brown sugar and
plum, this is a four-square Sonoma zin, balanced and well made, with the restraint for
duck. -P.J.C. §

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Wine & Spirits - June 2021

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