A New Wine Release
The 2024 Xylophone Zinfandel introduces itself before it ever reaches your mouth. Stewed blackberries and black cherries come first, then dried figs and blueberries, then a curl of smoked cinnamon and clove. On the palate it turns to raspberry cordial and dark chocolate, carried on a texture so soft you would never guess it holds 16.2 percent alcohol.
Our winemaking team summed it up in three words on the spec sheet: sarsaparilla, dry fruit, gentle giant. That is about as honest a description of a wine as you will find.
We made 131 cases. This is a red wine for the nights that call for something big, poured for people who will notice.
Where It Comes From
Lodi sits at the northern edge of California's San Joaquin Valley, and people have been making wine there since the 1850s. The days are warm. The nights are cooled by the delta breeze, the evening air that pulls in off the Sacramento and San Joaquin river delta and lets the grapes rest after a long day of sun. Most of the ground is deep loam studded with large rocks.
That combination is why Lodi Zinfandel tends to taste the way it does: generous, ripe, and full of dark fruit, with enough cool-night freshness to keep it from going flat. The 2024 vintage leans into all of it.
How It Was Made
The grapes were picked a little past peak ripeness, on purpose. A few clusters came in with the occasional raisin among the berries, and those raisins are where the concentration and the dried fruit character come from. That is the fig, the dried blueberry, the sarsaparilla.
From there, every step was chosen to build depth without building edges. The fruit was fully destemmed and fermented warm in stainless steel to bring the dark fruit forward. It was pumped over daily, a gentle way of moving juice over the skins that pulls out color and flavor while keeping the tannins soft. Aging in a mix of French and American oak added the spice and the confectionary notes: the cinnamon, the clove, the hint of dark chocolate on the finish.
The result is the wine's whole personality in one sentence. Full of stewed and dried fruit, backed by oak spice, with a velvet texture that makes all that power easy to drink.
What's in the Glass
Full body. Medium-plus acidity, which keeps the fruit lively rather than heavy. Silky tannins. Bone dry, despite how much ripe fruit is in play.
If you like Zinfandel for its generosity, this is that bottle. If you have ever found the grape a little blunt, the texture is the reason to try it again. The power is all there. It just arrives without elbows.
How to Serve It
Pour it at 60 to 62°F, a touch cooler than most rooms. A bottle that has been sitting on the counter will thank you for fifteen minutes in the refrigerator before dinner. A wine with this much ripeness shows its alcohol more as it warms, and a slight chill keeps the fruit and spice in front.
Use a generous glass and give it a few minutes to open. The aromas are the first act here; let them have the room.
It drinks beautifully now and is built to hold for three to four years, so a second bottle for the rack is a reasonable decision.
What to Put on the Table
A wine this bold wants food that can stand next to it. Three dishes that do exactly that:
Ossobuco. Braised veal shank, marrow, a long slow sauce. The richness of the dish meets the weight of the wine, and the stewed fruit in the glass reads like it belongs in the braise.
Duck breast with blackberry coulis. The most direct pairing on the list. The blackberry in the sauce and the blackberry in the wine find each other immediately, and the medium-plus acidity cuts through the fat of the duck.
Balsamic marinated eggplant. For the vegetarian at the table, or anyone who wants a lighter plate without giving up depth. The sweet tang of the balsamic picks up the raspberry cordial note and the dried fruit on the finish.
For a cheese board, lean into smoke. Smoked gouda and ash-rinded chevre both pick up the oak spice in the wine and give it something savory to push against. Add a few dried figs to the board and the pairing completes itself.
This is the bottle for a wine night with friends who like to cook, a cold-weather dinner party, or a long table where the conversation is still going after the plates are cleared.
Bring It Home
The 2024 Xylophone Zinfandel is $28 a bottle in the City Winery Wine Shop.
Shipping is $20 on six or more bottles and free on twelve or more. We ship to most US states, with the exception of AL, AK, AR, DE, HI, KY, MI, MS, RI, SD, and UT. Orders arrive within five business days east of the Mississippi and within eight business days elsewhere. An adult 21 or older will need to sign for the delivery.
With 131 cases made, this one is small batch by any measure. If it sounds like your kind of wine, it probably is.