Wines

Great value here from the famous Bedrock Vineyard (Shhh....)! From the winery: A punchy, spicy blend of zinfandel (80%), barbera (15%) and Alicante Bouschet (5%). The Zinfandel and Alicante were sourced from the Bedrock Vineyard in Sonoma. The fruit was from adjacent blocks so we picked both on the same day, co-fermenting them together. Traditionally this fruit has always been the base for our red table wine. We then blended in a few barrels of Barbera to level up the acidity and aromatics.

92-94 Points! The 2022 Zinfandel Pesenti Vineyard is a very pretty wine, and also surprisingly delicate for Paso. Medium in body, with terrific nuance, the Pesenti is super-expressive in this vintage. Crushed flowers, blood orange and cedar overtones linger on the aromatic, finessed finish. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

Cienega Valley is an elevated pocket in the Gabilan Mountains 1,100 feet above sea level. The region’s warm, dry conditions are quite agreeable to the thin-skinned
Zinfandel grapes, enabling sound crops to be picked late in the year without the threat of bunch rot. The Gabilan Range is high enough to protect vines from direct contact with the cold coastal air, but low enough to allow breezes to mitigate the heat of summer afternoons. Rainfall averages 15 inches per year while fog is rare. This temperate climate is well suited to producing rich red wines.

DeRose has 15 acres of Zinfandel vines originally planted on their own roots in the late 1890s. Dry farmed on steep hillsides in Cienega Valley, the head-trained vines produce highly pigmented grapes inscribed with a spicy mountain terroir.

94 Points! This deeply structured Zin simmers with intensity, remaining focused and refined, with blackberry, briar patch and grilled anise flavors that gather tension toward medium-grained tannins. - Wine Spectator

94 Points! The 2021 Zinfandel Paso Robles is all varietal and comes from the Benito Dusi Ranch in Paso Robles. It's more medium-bodied and elegant, with classic Zinfandel notes of red and black plums, peppery herbs, cigar smoke, and sweet spices. I love its forward, seamless texture, and it has soft tannins as well as flawless balance. It's another gorgeous 2021 from this team with so much to love. Enjoy bottles over the coming decade. - Jeb Dunnuck

96 Points! Grapes for the 2021 Angeli Zinfandel are picked in three passes. Proprietor Scot Bilbro notes that Zinfandel's naturally varying levels of ripeness can lead to raisiny flavors if all the grapes are picked at a higher brix. "If you bring Zinfandel in over 25 brix, that means the juice inside is at 25, but the skins have a lot more sugar, and the level will go up to 28 or more," he explains. "So, we pick at 23, 24 and just shy of 25. You can enable the wine to show off layers with those different picks." This strategy led to a gorgeous Angeli in 2021 that is incredibly expressive and perfumed. Blueberry, boysenberry and blackberry give way to wafts of graphite, gobs of violet and even touches of tangerine. The medium to full-bodied palate explodes with concentrated fruit and expansive layers of floral perfume and spice. It has a powdery frame, bursts of mouthwatering acidity and a very long, nuanced finish. - Erin Brooks, robertparker.com

93 Points! Pure and focused, offering violet, cherry, raspberry and mineral aromas and flavors. Shaped by vibrant acidity, this red persists with a lingering, resonant aftertaste. - Wine Spectator

93 Points! A bright saturated ruby, the 2021 Zinfandel Russian River Valley is lifted with fresh aromas of candied peach, grenadine, and pressed red flowers. Medium to full-bodied, with great energy in its notes of fresh mixed berries, gravelly earth, and mocha, it’s an elegant wine with fine tannins, a stony texture, and a good, clean finish. It’s a fantastic entry to the wines from Limerick Lane to drink over the next several years. - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

93 Points! Fragrant and vibrantly structured, with expressive raspberry, green peppercorn and roasted sage flavors that build richness and tension toward briary tannins. - Wine Spectator

95 Points! The 2021 Zinfandel Saitone Vineyard has a light touch of reductive lift on opening before revealing its more potent liqueur of ripe fruits and Luxardo cherry, boysenberry and raspberry preserve, black pepper, and lavender. Full bodied, it offers more lift on the palate, with tangy red berries, crunchy fresh herbs, and wildflowers. It is long on the palate, with lift and a savory appeal. Drink 2025-2035. - Audrey Frick, JebDunnuck.com

95 Points! A youthful hue of electric ruby with purple highlights, the 2021 Zinfandel Pagani Ranch is highly aromatic and jumps out of the glass with wild strawberries, pink peppercorn, blueberry, and minty herbs. Medium to full-bodied, with a velvety texture, ripe tannins, and supple richness in its notes of violets, cherry, and cedar, it’s a well-balanced and potent style to drink 2025-2035. - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

94 Points! Brooding and dark, yet light on its feet, this Zinfandel overflows with flavors and aromas of blackberry and plum, licorice, black pepper and briar patch, finishing with big but smooth tannins. - Wine Spectator

93 Points! Supple and jammy, with rich and multilayered berry cobbler and toasty spice flavors that expand and flesh out on the zesty finish. Drink now through 2029. - Wine Spectator

93 Points! The NV Old Vine Red Lot 74 is primarily Zinfandel, with some Syrah, Petite Sirah, Carignan, Grenache and Barbera. Spicy and easy to drink, it has aromas of red and black cherries, mint, bitter chocolate and allspice with earthy undertones. The medium-bodied palate is finely chalky and refreshing, with spicy fruit and an easygoing finish. This will be enjoyable with almost any dish at the table and, as always, overdelivers for the price. - Erin Brooks, robertparker.com

91 Points, Wine Spectator's #50 Wine of the Year 2023! This zesty red is generous with sleekly layered cherry and raspberry flavors that are laced with notes of cinnamon and pepper and finish with lively tannins. Drink now through 2029. - Wine Spectator

From the winery: In 2019 we had exceptionally long hang time for the fruit, giving it the chance to develop layers of flavors. Combine that with the low yield of our over 120-year-old Zinfandel vines, and you can see
why we were excited by the intensity of the fruit. After HAND-PICKING (much of Lodi is machine-harvested) into small bins for the most delicate transportation of the fruit, the grapes were lightly crushed into the tank for fermentation. Fermented on the skins to dryness, it was then pressed and placed in our top 10% “food friendly” French and American oak barrels, of which 15% was new wood. Aging in this way, we are able to maintain and uplift all of the fruit and flavors to their fullest.

93 Points! An old-school Zin that smells fresh from the briar patch, this is ripe but not over the top, showing lively flavors of wild berry, licorice and savory cracked pepper. - Wine Spectator

From the winery: Every vintage we get the fun challenge of putting together a wine that we feel really shows off what old vine Zinfandel can achieve in California by focusing on the strengths of the vintage. In the process, we endeavor to make something that is one of the better values in the wine world from truly old vines (average vine age is over 80). In 2022, one of the main challenges was how to balance the deep fruit weight, richness, and ripeness that some lots possessed due to a big heat wave in early September. Fortunately, we were well-equipped for this challenge given the diversity of sources we work with, along with having some other varieties that have traditionally been blended with Zinfandel for this very reason. This year’s rendition is 76% Zinfandel, 11% Carignan, 5% Petite Sirah, 4% Grenache and 3% Cinsault, with the remainder being assorted mixed varieties such as Mourvèdre, Negrette and more. Though a blend of over a dozen ranches, the majority comes from Teldeschi, Evanghelho, Katushas, Nervo, Sodini, Beeson, Bedrock, Old Hill, and Papera. We are extremely pleased with the resulting wine—one that shows off freshness, wonderful fruit tones, spice, and pepper laden perfume built around a core of flat-out delicious fruit character. This one should be a great crowd-pleaser.