Here you go, The usual caveat that some typos and additional changes might occur. Can’t wait to see the first of the 2023 reds get out into the world- truly a spectacular and unique vintage.
2023 Compagni Portis Heritage Wine, Sonoma Valley
Planted in 1954, Compagni Portis is one of the last remaining vineyards from a time when Germanic white varieties dominated the landscape of Sonoma Valley. A dry-farmed, scant-yielding field blend of Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Trosseau Gris (historically known as Grey Riesling), and Roter Veltliner, the vineyard is located in the cooler southeast corner of Sonoma Valley, close to the historic Buena Vista winery. The mild 2023 vintage has made for a wine of spice and perfume, with elements of lemongrass, ginger, and citrus along with beautiful Riesling brightness to balance the natural weight of Gewurz and Trousseau Gris. In 2022, we took an adjoining section of the vineyard that was more dominant in Riesling, which definitely changed the character of this wine to a leaner style. In 2023 we are back to the original parcel we have worked with since 2009 and are loving how it responded to the vintage.
2023 Bedrock Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, Sonoma Valley
We have been extremely pleased with the consistently high quality of Sauvignon Blanc from Bedrock Vineyard despite the relative youth of the blocks it comes from. This is, no doubt, thanks to the deft hand of our viticulturist Jake Neustadt and foreman Alberto Rojas, who have been careful to keep the prolific variety well-balanced. Made completely from Musqué clone, which allows us to get better aromatic development at lower potential alcohols, the fruit was whole-cluster pressed, then barrel fermented in a combination of Austrian and French oak barrels, a portion of which were new. The Sauvignon Blanc from Bedrock is blessed with an enormous amount of natural vibrancy thanks to its low 3.05 pH, so the barrels help to build texture and amplitude via lees contact. This balances the exotic passion fruit, mango, and lemon curd aromatics with dense and refreshing fruit. This is one of my favorite SBs we have made.
2023 Old Vine Zinfandel, California
We take pride in this being one of the greatest value wines in the world, and in a year like 2023, where quality was excellent across California and crop yields were strong, it shines even brighter. Nearly 50% of the wine is from Sodini Ranch on Limerick Lane in Healdsburg, Bedrock Vineyard in Sonoma Valley, Teldeschi Ranch in Dry Creek, and Evangelho Vineyard in Contra Costa County, with the remainder of the wine comprised of declassified barrels from vineyards we farm like Beeson Ranch, Katushas,’ Pato, and Mori, along with bits from Dolinsek, Banfield, Sky, and Old Hill Ranch. Deep and vibrant in color, this showcases both the freshness and richness of the 2023 vintage. The average vine age is over 80 years for this wine, and 70% of the fruit is farmed by the winery—something that continues to ensure consistency. Almost entirely fermented with indigenous yeasts, this is aged in a combination of foudre, puncheons, and barrique with a very small amount of new oak—the goal is always to make a wine brimming with lovely fruit while retaining the natural acid and spice character that makes Zinfandel such a great fit for California.
2023 Katushas’ Vineyard Zinfandel, Mokelumne River
When we bough this vineyard back in 2014 it knew it would be a long path to get it to where we knew the quality could potentially be. Releasing the third vintage of this wine, while watching the previous iterations spoken highly of on Cellartrtacker, is a wonderful validation of all the efforts made. Planted in 1915 and tucked into the top of a windswept oxbow in the Mokelumne River north of the town of Victor, Katushas’ is composed almost entirely of own-rooted Zinfandel growing deep into the Fine Sandy Tokay Loams that define this historic growing area. Our tenth year farming this vineyard, we have been blown away by the changes we have seen in soil and vine health by moving to non-till, soil-regenerating practices like the use of insectary flower-rich cover crops, roller crimping to shade out weeds and protect the soil from the hot Lodi sun, and relying on natural predation from beneficial insects to help balance those of challenging pests like mealybugs, leafhoppers and spider mites. The happy result is a wine that retains wonderful freshness and perfume while also maintaining the generosity of fruit that Lodi is so well known for. Fermented with indigenous yeasts, this was aged in a combination of 600-gallon foudre and puncheons.
2023 Evangelho Heritage Wine, Contra Costa
Like almost everything in the fantastic 2023 vintage, the fruit for this wine was harvested nearly a month later than normal. From vines planted in the 1890s, own-rooted on banks of deep sand a mere mile from the Sacramento River delta, this vineyard has happily exploded from relative obscurity a decade ago and is now being appreciated for the world-class site it is. The extended hangtime, combined with the natural intensity of the wind-blown, sand dune terroir has made for a dense, vibrant, and classic Evangelho Heritage Wine. Composed of separate, field-blended sections from this iconic vineyard, the final wine is about 78% Zinfandel and 16% Mourvèdre with the balance being Carignan and small amounts of Alicante Bouschet, Grand Noir, Palomino, and even the fruits of a single, huge Clairette Blanche vine. This is as deeply colored an Evangelho as I can remember making, and this, combined with the natural freshness and perfume from a long growing season, shows off the exuberant black raspberry, curry spice, and salted plum so typical of the site. A truly great Evangelho.
2023 Banfield Vineyard Zinfandel, Russian River Valley
On top of being a great vintage, we have joked in the cellar that 2023 is the year of Russian River Valley, as two iconic vineyards we have long coveted fell into our lap. Adding these two—Banfield and Belloni—to our existing quiver of remarkable sites also means that we get to work with a vineyard from almost every important subregion for Zinfandel in the vast Russian River Valley appellation. The furthest west and most extreme of these is Banfield Vineyard. Known by many names over the year, including Martinelli Road (Carlisle), Rancho Burro (Turley), and Leno Martinelli (for the iconic Williams-Selyem examples of lore), Banfield is part of the Jackass Vineyard complex located west of Forestville. The property, located in a steep valley surrounded by redwood trees, has the feeling of being both hidden from the outside world and part of a different area entirely from the rest of the Russian River Valley. Over the years, a combination of changing ownership and variable farming has precluded this site from living up to its awesome potential. We are thrilled to work with the new owners, who are investing the two most important things—love and capital— and who have brought in our thoughtful colleague and friend Daniel Chavez of Daylight Vineyard Management to oversee the farming operations. The fruit from the ranch, picked on October 7th, was separated into two tanks: one from the hill section and the other from the flatter section along the road. The majority of the finished wine comes from the explosively blue-fruited hill section blended with a bit of the richer, slightly lower-tone wine from the flats. For me, there is nothing else in wine that smells and tastes like Zinfandel from this part of the world in a great year- and it is a thrill to try our hand making wine from a legendary and unique Zinfandel site.
2023 Dolinsek Ranch Heritage Wine, Russian River Valley
How much do we love Dolinsek Ranch? Let me count the ways. First off, Dolinsek is the OG of the RRV for Bedrock, as we first start working with it in 2009. Second, Jim and Kathleen Dolinsek are two of the most wonderful people we know, and Jim, as loveable a curmudgeon as you will find, does most of the work on this vineyard by himself—it is truly a labor of love. Third, it is a singular vineyard: planted in 1910 on a north-facing slope of sandy goldridge loam, it is roughly 75% Zinfandel with the balance being Alicante Bouschet, Barbera, Syrah, and more, including a few delicious Muscat Hamburg (Black Muscat) vines. The resulting wine is always one of the most distinct we make, showcasing classic Russian River Valley fruit tinctured with some wild exoticness. Though we always think this is one of the more rewarding wines we make to enjoy in its youth, it has also been known to age well and we think the 2023, picked the latest date ever on October 13th, will do both. A wonderful year for Dolinsek.
2023 Carlisle Vineyard Zinfandel, Russian River Valley
Moving eastward from the ocean, Carlisle is the third vineyard of three on this release’s mini tour of Russian River Valley. Located in the Piner/Olivet area of the plain to the west of Santa Rosa, Carlisle is understandably one of the most famous vineyards for Zinfandel in the area. Though a remarkably diverse vineyard with over 40 different interplanted varieties such as Albillo Mayor, Petite Bouschet, Tempranillo, Muscadelle, Clairette Blanche, and many, many more, the overall composition is just about 90% Zinfandel. We love this wine every year for its warm hug of opulent blue fruit that is naturally leavened by natural acidity provided by the cool, and often foggy, Russian River Valley nights. Around the world, grapevines grown on soils higher in clay content are known for their fruit weight, and in the context of this release’s wine, the high clay content at Carlisle plays out as this is the richest of the Russian River Valley wines, even when picked under the cool skies of October. Though these wines will age nicely, I almost prefer them in their youth for the ebullient fruit. For a fun comparison, open this next to a Banfield, as they were both picked on the same day (October 7th) at almost the same sugar level, and you will truly see the effect of soil and site.
2023 Beeson Ranch Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley
A Zinfandel, fully ripe, picked under 24 brix, in October, in Dry Creek Valley?! Unicorns do exist, Bigfoot marches across the northwest, and Nessie chills at the bottom of the Loch. Though there is a lot more to wine balance than alcohol percentage (which too often is a windmill for tilting at) the remarkable 2023 growing season did allow us to pick at lower sugars than normal at full ripeness. The best blocks of Beeson Ranch, picked on October 9th at 23.9 brix, showcase everything we love about this steep, quartz crystal and greenstone-strewn site, located in the southwest corner of Dry Creek Valley. Explosive with exotic aromatics of pretty red fruits tinctured with cardamom, coriander and bay laurel while also being pure and generous of fruit, this is the most “complete” Beeson we have made. Every time we taste this wine we are struck by how distinct it is from either Teldeschi Ranch on the other side of Dry Creek Valley and the Russian River Valley vineyards to the south- it is truly a singular site that that makes wine of breadth and beauty.
2023 Shake Ridge Barbera, Amador County
Coming from Ann Kraemer’s Amador County viticultural opus, Shake Ridge Ranch, this is always one of our favorite wines we make and high on the list of the most consumed by the team. There is something magical about Barbera planted in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Part of it has to do with the granitic soils that provide structural definition to the crunchy fruit, and part of it has to do with the hot days at elevation that temper the bright acid of the variety into something both chiseled and approachable. At my house, we have “special pasta” night each week, which is a funny name for something that is rather standard fare—a relatively simple concoction made of browned Italian sausage cooked down with broccoli rabe, red pepper flakes, red sauce, extra garlic, and wine, and tossed with pasta and thickened with the cooking water (in a concession to parenthood, the pasta shape is whatever we cooked for JP’s dinner that night) and finished with some form of aged cheese and good olive oil. All I know is that there is a reason why Barbera has been the trattoria and osteria’s best friend since time unknown, as I invariably reach for this wine. I encourage everyone to make this their “special pasta” wine as well!
2023 Monte Rosso Zinfandel, Moon Mountain District
I could joke that there is not much to say about this wine… but when I have ever been on short on words when it comes to this vineyard?! Monte Rosso Vineyard is rightfully one of the most storied and famous vineyards in California. Our fruit comes from two blocks of vines planted pre-1900 grown in the storied iron-red soils of the site— one north facing and the other west facing. It is always one of the best wines of the year and in 2023 it might be one of the very top from a legendary vintage. You take this all together and it is hard not to get pretty excited. From the moment it hit the tank during harvest, this wine has been explosively aromatic, and the finished wine truly pops with dark red fruit, spice, white flowers, and citrus blossom typical of the vineyard. Hands down one of the best Monte Rosso Zinfandels we have ever made—we expect this to be a wine we look back on for years with great fondness. This is also legendary vineyard manager Brenae Royal’s final vintage managing the vineyard—her presence will be greatly missed in the future, but we feel very fortunate to have worked with her for a decade.
2023 Bedrock Heritage Wine, Sonoma Valley
2023 was a great vintage for the regeneratively farmed ancient vines at our home ranch! The 1888 plantings at Bedrock yielded a balanced 2.3 tons per acre of inky deliciousness. Though all 27 varieties are present in the wine, this is dominated by Zinfandel from blocks 38 and 40, along with some of the best Carignan and Mataro we have ever gotten from the ranch. The result is a magical rendition of the wine, filled with swirling dark fruits and garrigue, that is the bottled essence of Sonoma Valley. We often say that the wines of the southern Rhone are the old world cousins of some of our field-blended wines- also field-blended and Zinfandel and Grenache can share a lot of similar personality traits. In 2023 Chris and I both tasted the finished version of this wine and immediately were struck by its kinship to higher elevation Gigondas or restrained Chateauneuf-du-Pape- though the core of Zinfandel is still there, the long growing season pushes the perfume into a higher octave then we have seen before. For us, Bedrock Vineyard Heritage Wine is our equivalent of Ridge’s Geyserville bottling—something we have made every year since our inception and one that will be the benchmark of our reputation as a winery. This is the seismic epicenter for all that we do at the winery and a wine we put thought and love into each vintage. We were richly rewarded in the excellent 2023 vintage with a wine that will join some of the great vintages from the vineyard.
2022 Bien Nacido Syrah, Santa Maria Valley
The final 2022 wine we are releasing comes from the famous plantings in Z and X blocks at Bien Nacido Vineyard. Located in Santa Maria Valley with lots of ocean influence, this fruit was picked in late October despite what was a “warm” year in most other parts of California- indeed “warm” in this wine-blown corner of the world is all relative as X block was picked at only 12% potential alcohol. Brimming with violets, savory charcuterie, and herb aromatics, this wine is quintessential Syrah from Santa Barbara. Fermented with roughly 60% whole-cluster and aged predominately in neutral puncheons, the goal here was to highlight the intensity and uniqueness of this world-class site.
