Thank you! I might be about to get in trouble. This wine is definitely not released. But, David tried our 2018 Morisoli Zin when we did a preview of the 18 Zins during WB’s quarantine relief. When he reached out again to me, I suggested this for fun. Even the 2018 Morisoli Zinfandel is not released yet. The 2018 Morisoli Zin will release by mailing list this Fall, along with most of the cabs and some other zins.
(If we seem like we are underprepared - well, yeah! When Russell started making Elyse for vintage 2018, the Elyse tasting room was still on vintage 2013. We have had to sit and wait and wait to get to the 2018s. We never talked about it with formality, so I thought we still had a couple more months to prepare, upgrade the website, send announcement emails… Uncharted waters, ahoy.)
The wine David posted about is actually not our “flagship” 2019 Morisoli Zinfandel. This is where it all gets complicated. Basically, my partner Josh and Russell have collaborated for over a decade over several brands and wineries. Josh’s staunch philosophy is that business should not dictate Russell’s winemaking decisions. No minimum quantities each year, etc. So, Russell does what he wants - dissects blocks into small sections, trials farming techniques, ferments in tiny lots, experiments with barrels, makes burnt offerings to ancient gods, etc. After blending we get 1) a core portfolio, and 2) some tiny bottlings because Russell deemed something must exist. P&L be damned! On top of all of that, we R&D 10-15 new vineyards per year. Most never graduate to becoming a portfolio wine.
Back to the Zin. When Russell presented the 2019 Morisoli Zinfandel, he pulled out two blends instead of one, grinned wickedly, and waggled his eyebrows. One blend is our flagship, but what David reviewed above is that second blend: Morisoli “Zieger Block”, a barrel select. Thank you, BTW, David - you made me laugh. “…a violet that has been blasted with gamma rays, and gets ticked off if you misplace an apostrophe” is exactly the experience.
It was a great decision for us, because the 2019 “Zieger Block” is THAT wild and gluttonous. It is also divisive - if our “flagship” 2019 Morisoli Zinfandel bottling was like this barrel select, we would lose some customers, and we would cause some heart attacks. Morisoli is a stunning vineyard, but, like the Rutherford Bench more generally, it’s known for at least a modicum of elegance. There’s a 34 year history with this vineyard we need to do right by.
The good/bad news here is that we thought the “Zieger Block” would get backlash for being so insanely unrestrained. When we first tasted it, we all agreed we would make it even if we were stuck drinking all of it ourselves. It is liquid depravity - meant to be consumed with shame and discretion, perhaps with a napkin draped over our eyes, a la ortolan.
So, with only 70 cases of Zieger bottled last August and COVID shutting down the world, our sales team asked if they could open it for folks they knew enjoy moments of levity. Why not - levity is 100% what 2020 needed. Somehow, we now have under 25 cases left of Zieger despite needing to sell it at $75 to compensate for the way it was produced. What to do with Zieger from there, we don’t know, since there’s no way to predict if a given vintage will justify another barrel selection or what the quantities will be, and “releasing” the final 25 cases of something so divisive is risky - some people would hate it, others would be deeply annoyed we didn’t have enough to offer it fairly. Managing Zieger like a “cult”, highly-allocated wine seems ridiculous, too. It barely exists. It’s a Zinfandel. It was made for fun.
This probably seems so chaotic compared to how professionally tight most Napa portfolios are, but Elyse has a long history of experimental bottlings and not taking itself too seriously. People would visit expecting a few surprises alongside the classics. We’ll learn as we roll into Russell’s wines how to best message and release the stranger things in the right way. But, there’s no doubt a few wines will never exist beyond liminal space (like “my” barrel of Viognier )