Joel Peterson founded Ravenswood Winery in 1976 with a focus on Single Vineyard Zinfandel. Ravenswood was immensely successful and over time began producing in excess of a million cases per year. Once & Future is the return to the original vision Joel had for Ravenswood so many years ago – a small project specializing in wines from unique older vineyards. At present time Once & Future makes several Zins along with a Merlot, Mataro and Petite Sirah.
Oakley Road Vineyard was planted in 1900 and is situated in Contra Costa County.
Bright crimson in color. 14.8% ABV. Intriguing nose of red fruits, citrus and baking spices. Medium body with medium acidity. Rustic Zinfandel with compelling earthy characteristics. Cherry, blood orange, pomegranate and pepper on the palate. Tremendous length on the finish. Somewhat atypical but without question a delicious Claret style Zinfandel. Best over the next several years.
My rating: 90 points.
I always hesitate to suggest yet another mailing list to my readers but I’ll make an exception here. Sign up soon as I suspect these wines will be hard to come by in the not so distant future. The next release should be early next year.