Enjoy Free Shipping When You Buy 6 Bottles or More
Enjoy Free Shipping When You Buy 6 Bottles or More
2023 Old Vine Alexander Valley Zinfandel
With the 2023 vintage Pastori Winery once again begins to produce wine from our estate vineyard planted in 1914 and augmented in 1955.
Vintage: After the brutal fires of 2020, the ongoing drought in 2021 that drastically reduced the crop, and the extreme heat event of 2022, the 2023 vintage seemed like a dream come true! A nicely wet winter set a good, healthy crop for 2023. The rain lasted longer than “normal” and, combined with cooler than normal temperatures pushed budbreak and bloom back about one month from 2022. The growing season remained cool throughout the summer with temperatures mostly in the 80’s. Harvest started 28 days later than in 2022. This cool vintage produced wines of great brightness, definition, and exuberance.
Vineyard: The grapes for this Old Vine Zinfandel were harvested in the cool of the night on October 22nd and came from our front block planted in 1955, making these vines 69 years old, which means the roots go deeper in the soil and bring up more diverse minerals for the grapes to feed. Better fed grapes make better wine!
Fermentation: The grapes are hand-picked and then on the sorting line and into the de-stemmer in a matter of minutes. We fermented this wine in 12 separate half-ton bins at the old winery on the property. We allowed the grape must to rest unadulterated until natural fermentation started, and we then punched down the cap of skins back into the juice twice daily by hand. This continued for 20 days until the wine went dry, and we pressed it directly into barrel where the malo-lactic fermentation was allowed to occur naturally.
Aging: This eight-barrel lot was aged for 16 months in 100% French oak and was only racked once.
Tasting Notes: The wine has a medium bright red color with aromas of pomegranate, wild thyme, blackberry and new leather. The flavors are amazingly bright for a war,m ripe 14.4% alcohol zinfandel and are dominated by pomegranate fruit, warm autumnal spices, and enoki mushrooms. The pallet is lively with the wine dancing across your tongue and ending with a great long lingering finish.
2023 Centurial Old Vine Alexander Valley Zinfandel
With the 2023 vintage Pastori Winery once again begins to produce wine from our estate vineyard planted in 1914 and augmented in 1955.
Vintage: After the brutal fires of 2020, the ongoing drought in 2021 that drastically reduced the crop, and the extreme heat event of 2022, the 2023 vintage seemed like a dream come true! A nicely wet winter set a good healthy crop for 2023. The rain lasted longer than “normal” and combined with cooler than normal temperatures pushed budbreak and bloom back about one month from 2022. The growing season remained cool throughout the summer with temperatures mostly in the 80’s. Harvest started 28 days later than in 2022. This cool vintage produced wines of great brightness, definition and exuberance.
Vineyard: We call this wine Centurian because it only comes from our oldest parcel that was planted in 1914. These great old vines have proven stalwart to all the conditions Mother Nature has thrown at them for the past 110 years! The vineyard has other grape varieties (Carignan and Viognier) interspersed within the zinfandel, as most all old vine vineyards have that were planted by Italian immigrants.
Aging: This two-barrel lot was aged in 100% new French oak for 16 months and was only racked once.
Tasting Notes: The wine is bright red right to the edge of the glass. The aromas of fennel seed, molasses, wild sage jump from the glass inviting you into the wine. The pallet is quite lively, lithe and bright showing the depth of the roots helping to retain the acidity. The flavors are warm, autumnal with fig, leather, molasses (albeit dry), and cranberries. The warmth of the wine lingers and lingers. The wine isn’t big, but has great depth of flavor!