Reserve Zinfandel Cuvée Bacigalupi 2021

Our Reserve wines carry a tremendous history, backed by 17 years of dedicated production and craftsmanship. Carefully selected from small lots of exceptional barrels, this collection is limited and highly curated. These single-vineyard expressions are sourced from some of the most renowned wine-growing regions in the United States. Each wine highlights the very best of its local terroir, crafted in partnership with distinguished growers who produce outstanding expressions of each grape variety. Aged in French oak barrels, these wines develop remarkable structure, depth, and elegance. With tremendous aging capacity, they are true collectors' must-haves—built to evolve beautifully over time.

Classic Zinfandel - this wine opens with a bold nose full of baking spice, fresh berries and brown sugar.  On the palate, the wine is supple and rich, with loads of cinnamon and cola notes with hints of mushroom.  As the wine opens in the glass, it picks up notes of peppercorn and raspberry coulis.  Gloriously intense and hedonistic, this wine manages to stay well balanced all the way to the long vanilla-cherry finish.

Situated on a gentle southeast facing slope that has been owned by Helen & Charles Bacigalupi since 1948.  This is a benchmark vineyard in Sonoma County and the Russian River Valley. The terrain ranges from gentle rolling hills to extreme hillsides.

Some of the grapes for this wine were fermented in a large oak cask and some were fermented in a closed top stainless steel tank.  All of the fruit was received at very high sugar (28° Brix) and fermented slowly to maximize fruit concentration.  After a 5-week fermentation, the press wine and free run were combined and malo-lactic fermentation was conducted in a stainless steel tank before the wine was put into barrels (75% new American oak, 25% once-used French oak) to age for 14 months.  After aging, the wine was racked once and bottled unfined and unfiltered.

This wine is an easy stand alone as a cocktail wine to get the evening started.  It would also pair well with root beer marinated pulled pork, spicy chicken molé enchiladas or a meat pie.  It could do well with a poblano cheese quesadilla or grilled chanterelles with onions and butter.