Winemaker Notes:
Eight acres of gnarly old-vine Zinfandel from the Signal Fire Vineyard, located in northern Calistoga, produce this dense wine with loads of blackberries, white pepper spice, sweet honeysuckle, and crushed herbs. This is approachable upon release and will age when cellared correctly, for 5 to 8 years. The small, individual lots of fruit were destemmed into open top fermenters, where a 5-day cold soak took place. The process of cooling the cap releases color and flavor pre-fermentation. The fermentation was allowed to slowly take hold via na-tive yeast. Whole-berry fermentation took place for an average of 22 days. The wine was barrel aged in both new American Oak and once used tight grain French Oak. No conventional pumps were used in the making of this wine. Only diaphragm air pumps, forced air pressure movement, or bulldogging, and transfers by gravity were employed to preserve the pure fruit integrity in the wine.