Syncline Winery was founded in 1999 by James and Poppie Mantone. Syncline’s first vintage in 1999, consisted of 76 cases of Celilo Vineyards Pinot Noir from vines planted in 1973. The next year, production was increased to include Columbia Valley Syrah and Grenache. At the same time they began working with vineyards to plant Mourvedre, Cinsault, Counoise and Carignan.They have kept…
Author: Tom Lee
2013 Force Majeure CS VI – Bottle Notes
Force Majeure was founded in 2004 by Paul McBride and made its name pairing some of Washington’s highly acclaimed winemakers with fruit from one of Washington’s highly acclaimed vineyards, Ciel du Cheval. The winery recently transitioned from Collaboration wines to Estate wines. Todd Alexander, formerly of Bryant Family Vineyards, is the winemaker for the Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Tempranillo. Force Majeure…
2012 Ravenswood Zinfandel Old Hill Ranch Vineyard – Bottle Notes
Ravenswood was founded in 1976 by Joel Peterson. The winery is a pioneer in producing single vineyard Zinfandels from some of Napa and Sonoma’s most treasured vineyards, including Dickerson, Old Hill, Cooke and Belloni. I used to visit Ravenswood in the summer, when they released their single vineyard wines. Back in the day they also served delicious barbecue on the deck out…
The Week in Zinfandel (12/3/18)
Welcome to the latest installment of The Week in Zinfandel. If I missed your post or story please send me a link and I will be sure to include it next week. Hogshead Wine Blog writes An Afternoon with Mature Wine – Old Cali Back Labels. Peg Melnik writes A Zin that Pays Tribute to the Past. St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes…
2011 Clos Saint Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes – Bottle Notes
Clos Saint Jean was founded in 1900 in Chateauneuf du Pape and is still a small, family-run operation. The estate produces 12,500 cases annually. Brothers Pascal and Vincent Maurel run the business. Clos Saint Jean primarily produces Chateauneuf du Pape, including the Vieilles Vignes and several special cuvees including the Combe des Fous and Deus-Ex Machina. In 2002, Philippe Cambie…
2004 Domaine Isabel Ferrando Châteauneuf-du-Pape Colombis – Bottle Notes
Domaine Isabel Ferrando is owned by Isabel Ferrando who created the estate when she purchased 3.9 hectares of vines. The goal was to create a wine that was distinct from Domaine Saint Prefert, her other Southern Rhone winery. The wine is 100% old vine Grenache made from grapes ranging from 65-100 years of age. 2004 was the debut vintage. Crimson…
2013 Turley Cinsault Bechthold Vineyard – Bottle Notes
Turley Wine Cellars was founded in 1993 by Larry Turley and specializes in small lots of Zinfandel and Petite Sirah from some of California’s most historic and treasured vineyards. Turley now makes right around 28 separate wines from 35 different vineyards, some with vines that date back to the late 1800’s. Tegan Passalacqua is the Director of Winemaking at Turley and…
The Best of Zinfandel Chronicles in 2018
The end of the year is always a time to reflect on what transpired in the previous twelve months. I for one will be happy to put 2018 in the rear view mirror but I’ll save that story for another day. With that in mind I took a moment to look at what posts in 2018 generated the most traffic…
2010 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Sonoma County – Bottle Notes
Williams Selyem Winery began when Ed Selyem and Burt Williams started making wine as a hobby in 1979 in Forestville, California. Their first commercial release was in 1981, and in less than two decades they created a cult-status winery of international acclaim. Setting a new standard for Pinot Noir winemaking, they put Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley at the forefront…
2016 Kreck Old Vine Zinfandel Del Barba Vineyard – Bottle Notes
Kreck Wines was founded in 2016 by Jeremy and Mindy Kreck. Jeremy Kreck is the winemaker and grew up farming grapes on his family’s Alexander Valley ranch. Mindy is a graphic designer and has crafted the Kreck package in homage to the heritage and legacy of the vineyards in which they source fruit. The focus at Kreck is old vine Zinfandel…