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 .
Monte Rosso was planted in the 1880’s by Emanuel Goldstein and the original winery is still on the property. The vineyard is at 1300′ elevation and is situated on the Southwest side of the Mayacamas Range, close to the town of Agua Caliente. 2015 was the last vintage of Carlisle Monte Rosso.
Purple in color. 15.5% ABV. Sensational nose of red fruits, peach and baking spices. Medium body with just enough acidity. There are enough bright fruits here at eight years of age to make this Zinfandel incredibly compelling. Black cherry, raspberry liqueur, mulberry and pepper on the palate. Tremendous length on the finish. Awesome Zinfandel from a problematic vintage that has aged brilliantly. Best over the next several years.
My rating: 94 points.
I can make an argument that Carlisle is the best Zinfandel producer in the state of California. 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 previously wrote about Monte Rosso in Top 10 Old Vine Zinfandel Vineyards.
I’ve wrote about Carlisle previously in Winery Mailing Lists: The Fab 5 and The 2020 Zinfandel Chronicles Power Rankings. I also had a chance to visit Mike Officer recently and wrote about that in The 2022’s Out of Barrel with Mike Officer at Carlisle.