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. Lore Olds designs the label for each new vintage. The winery flies under the radar despite selling fruit to Bedrock and becoming a cult favorite on WineBerserkers. The Olds family lost their house and a portion of the vineyard in the 2017 fires and deserve our support.
Dark crimson in color. 14% ABV. Intriguing nose of red fruits, anise and mint. Medium body with medium acidity. Rustic, Claret style Zinfandel. Cherry, cranberry, spearmint and pepper on the palate. Exceptional length on the finish. Such a unique Zinfandel and just a triumph from the problematic ’15 vintage. This will drink well for years to come.
My rating: 93 points.
Sky Vineyards does have a mailing list which you can join by emailing skyvineyards@gmail.com. Sky can also be found at retail in a handful of states. Sky ships to California but works with a local warehouse to ship to other locations. Sky just released their ’16 and ’17 Zins. The wines are being packaged together as a 6 pack with the ’15 (two bottles of each) for $300. I’ve already bought mine.
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.