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. Joel eventually sold Ravenswood to Constellation. I recall going to Ravenswood every August in the mid nineties for the release of their Single Vineyard Zins with the intent of securing coveted bottles of Old Hill, Dickerson, Cooke and Belloni. 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.
Old Hill Ranch is a historic jewel. It was founded by William McPherson Hill in 1851. The vineyard came into the Bucklin family when it was purchased in 1981. Bucklin, Once & Future, Carlisle and Bedrock are the sole producers of wine from the vineyard.
Dark red in color. 15% ABV. Savory nose of red fruits, roasted herbs and saddle leather. Medium body with mouth watering acidity and impeccable balance. Very concentrated with tremendous structure and rich fruits. Cherry, cranberry, plums and herbs on the palate. Tremendous length on the finish. The Zins from Joel Peterson have always aged well and this wine has a long life ahead of it. Best over the next 5-7 years. I’ll open my last bottle in 2029.
My rating: 93 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 2024 vintage set of wines will released be in the coming months.
I recently visited with Joel and wrote about it in The 2021 Once & Future Zins with Joel Peterson in Bedrock Vineyard.