Bottle Notes, Zinfandel

2012 Carlisle Zinfandel Dupratt Vineyard – Bottle Notes

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.


Dupratt Vineyard is located on the Mendocino Ridge only 5 miles from the Pacific Ocean. The vineyard was planted in 1916.

Crimson in color. 15.4% ABV. Scintillating nose of red and black fruits, peach, cocoa and pepper. Medium body with perfect acidity. The palate is intriguing with dark fruits framed by a touch of oak. Flavors of black raspberry, black cherry, salmonberry and white pepper. Tremendous length on the finish. Atypical from what I expect from Carlisle with the exotic dark fruit profile, but absolutely delicious nonetheless. Best over the next 1-2 years.

My rating: 93 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 2018 Zinfandel Chronicles Power Rankings. I also had a chance to visit Mike Officer recently and wrote about that in An Afternoon at Carlisle Winery.

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