Zinfandel - Cucamonga

We are in the process of bottling our 2006 Zinfandel from Cucamonga Valley. It is the best Zinfandel we have offered since the opening of the winery and we have offered some very good Zins over the years. This wine was made from a vineyard that was 128 years old and it is no longer in existence.

For many years the origin of Zinfandel has been debated within the wine industry, with one side claiming it came from Italy originally, and the other side claiming that since it has been and propagated in the US for so long, it’s its own grape. Recently it was discovered to have DNA relating back to the Italian grape Primitivo, but it actually goes farther back than that to a grape in Croatia called “Crljenak.” Historians have traced it back to the 1820’s when a nursery owner brought back cuttings from Austria. It was widely planted by many of the Italian immigrants who moved to the wine country counties of California, and was made into table wine for mostly personal consumption, or used as a blending grape for other varietals.

Our 2006 Zinfandel from the Cucamonga Valley is smooth with hints of crushed black pepper and wonderful flavors of dark berry fruit specially blackberry jam and dark cherry. The body is full and the tannins are very present but not overwhelming. The color is concentrated and it is definitively a big wine. Pair it with BBQ, hamburgers and grilled meats. A wine for the ages! We plan to release this wine in December 2006 unless you bought futures in which case you will get it by the end of October.