Drinking a fantastic Bedrock zin from this vineyard tonight.
Made me curious, is there a resource where you can track a vineyards history in terms of ownership and who have been the primary fruit users ?
For example it would be fun to track down a 90’s zin from Monte Rosso before Carlisle and Bedrock existed
Louis Martini would probably be the most available. I have a 96 Louis Martini Gnarly Vine Monte Rosso Zinfandel. When I cut the foil off it showed a bit of seepage so I’ve been nervous about opening it.
Search Monte Rosso on CT and/or Wine-searcher.
Two of my favorite wines from last year were '93 and '94 Ravenswood Monte Rosso. Definitely worth seeking out. The HVS site is a great starting point for research. Past that, google it; there has been quite a lot written about this vineyard.
I clicked through to the HVS link and noticed that Monte Rosso has almost 4 acres of old-vine (1890!) Semillon. Anyone know who gets this? It seems that Bedrock uses (used?) this for their “Sémillon Lachryma Montis,” but Bedrock hasn’t released one of those in a while, and I doubt they used all four acres for that in any event.
Anyway, just wondering if anyone knows where these grapes go.
I’ve not had the '93 or '94 but for me the '95 is the best Zin I have ever had and close to perfect. The '96 was nice as well.
Funny but when I have talked to Joel about my love of the '95 he very politely listens and thanks me but doesn’t say much and kind of has that look that indicates I don’t really know what I am talking about. So take my opinion with a grain of salt.
Member here Jake Terrell lived on and worked Monte Rosso for years. Consummate host, we enjoyed great parties and comradery there.
I believe the Cuvée Karatas is ~75% Monte Rosso Semillon with the remainder being Kick Ranch Sauvignon Blanc. At the last Bedrock pickup Morgan said he was dropping the Kick Ranch SB so I’m wondering where the Semillon will wind up.
Carlisle has been getting some of it since the 2010 vintage. The 2012 The Derivative is 54% Sémillon from Monte Rosso.
Yes AFAIK it goes into Bedrock Cuvee Karatas, Carlisle Derivative, and Bedrock Lachryma Montis when conditions are right for Botrytis. Quite likely some Gallo wines get it too, but not sure about that.
This is one of the old Semillon vines, taller than me:
As far as I know the Semillon at Monte Rosso is the oldest remaining in the country. There are a couple blocks of it up there, we take one of them for Cuvee Karatas and late-harvest (when we can make it) and the other goes to Carlisle for the most part. Pretty amazing stuff.
Judge Vineyard in Bennett Valley is our new source for Sauvignon Blanc for both Cuvee Karatas and the Sauvignon Blanc that will come out in the Spring.
Appreciate the replies. I’d hate to think some of that Semillon goes to Gallo. Not that I hate Gallo, but they don’t seem to be doing anything special with it.
Thanks again, everybody.
They’re keeping it in the ground as good stewards of the land they own. That’s real special if you ask me.
I visited with some Gallo folks when I was in retail and their respect for Monte Rosso is strong.