Carlisle Winery & Vineyards was founded in 1998 by Mike and Kendall Officer. Their passion is clear: Small lots of Zinfandel and Syrah from exceptional, historic vineyards. Many of these vineyards are heritage sites planted by Italian immigrants and date back to the late 1800s . Expect to see a Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from Montecillo Vinyard and a Russian River Valley Pinot Noir in the near future.
Rossi Ranch was planted by Carlos Rossi in the early 1900’s and is situated in the Sonoma Valley AVA.
Light red in color. 13.9% ABV. Sublime nose of red fruits, peach cobbler and earth. Medium body with just enough acidity. Surprising light and elegant. Black cherry, salmonberry, orange rind and a hint of pepper on the palate. Medium length on the finish. Well made Zinfandel but certainly an outlier from what I expect from Carlisle. Clearly a product of the challenging ’11 vintage. Drink over the next year or so.
My rating: 90 points.
Current vintages of the various Carlisle wines are available via the mailing list, which is exceptionally long. Several retail outlets in California stock Carlisle, but you need to check with them at the time the winery releases their wines in the Spring and Fall.
I’ve wrote about Carlisle previously in Winery Mailing Lists: The Fab 5 and The 2017 Zinfandel Chronicles Power Rankings.