In 1980, The Brown Family acquired land in the hills east of Rutherford in the Napa Valley. In 1995 they decided to make wine under their own label. The following year the first vintage of Zinfandel was produced and subsequently they have added Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Petite Sirah to their lineup. First and foremost, Brown Estate is known for their exceptional array of Zinfandels.
Brown Zinfandel is near and dear to me. I’ve had all the Estate Zinfandels from the 1997 vintage forward, and we served the ’99 Zin at our rehearsal dinner at PlumpJack Squaw Valley Inn in 2000.
Light purple in color. 15.4% ABV. Raspberry liqueur on the nose. Blackberry, raspberry, pepper and cloves on the palate. Gorgeous, sweet fruit. The finish is long, ripe and jammy. This is what Zinfandel is all about.
My rating: 93 points.
Brown Estate makes Zinfandel that truly has very few peers in California. It should be included in the conversation with the likes of Turley, Carlisle and Ridge. The wine can be found at retail and at the winery. Seriously consider signing up for the mailing list.
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I spotted a bottle of this at a tiny wine shop while on vacation the day before you posted about this. I didn’t get back to the shop but would have bought a bottle had I known it was one of your favored producers. I just did a quick wine-searcher search and it doesn’t appear to be abundantly available – but I’ll keep an eye out for it! Thanks for the tip.
I don’t see it at retail in Seattle and usually end up buying via the mailing list.