Zinfandel of the Month is a regular feature on Zinfandel Chronicles. Keep in mind that although the Zinfandel of the Month might be an older bottle, the current vintage will be one you can find at retail or via the mailing list.
The April Zinfandel of the Month is the 2014 Sky Vineyards Zinfandel.
Sky Vineyards, situated on Mt. Veeder, was founded in 1973 by Lore Olds. Lore purchased the property in 1972 and planted the Zinfandel shortly thereafter. The vineyard is dry farmed and for that reason the winery holds the wine back 2-4 years prior to release. Sky also produces a Syrah, Riesling and Rosé. I have heard of Sky Vineyards over the years but had never tried a bottle. When Bedrock Wine Co. recently released a Sky Vineyard Zin I knew I needed to track down the original to see what had Morgan so excited about this fruit.
I chose the 2014 Sky Vineyards Zinfandel as my Zinfandel of the Month as the wine was just released and I think the story is pretty cool. The winery suffered big losses in the 2017 California wildfires and deserves our support.
Crimson in color. 14% ABV. Sublime nose of jammy red and black fruits, licorice and pepper. Full bodied with mouth watering acidity. Big and jammy but still somewhat rustic. Somehow this Zinfandel threads the needle between modern and Claret in style. Blackberry, black cherry, earth and pepper on the palate. Exceptional length on the finish. Delicious, mountain grown Zin that has the structure and concentration to age well. Best over the next 3-5 years.
My rating: 93 points.
Sky Vineyards does have a mailing list which you can join by emailing skyvineyards@gmail.com. Sky can only be found at retail in a handful of states so I’ll be looking to sign up for the list. Sky only ships to California but works with a local warehouse to ship to other locations. The ’14 vintage of Zinfandel was just released and costs $45.
Sky is open by appointment and will do their best to entertain guests but bear in mind this is a family run winery so allow for a little flexibility when trying to schedule a visit.