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 . Rossi Ranch was planted by Carlos Rossi in the early 1900’s and is situated in…
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 50 separate wines from 47 different vineyards, some with vines that date back to the late 1800’s. Tegan Passalacqua is the Director of Winemaking at Turley and…
Zinfandel of the Month is a regular feature on Zinfandel Chronicles. Keep in mind that although the Zinfandel of the Month might be an older bottle, the current vintage will be one you can find at retail or via the mailing list. The April Zinfandel of the Month is the 2021 Ridge Vineyards Geyserville. I chose this Zinfandel as my…
Ridge Vineyards was founded in 1959 when three Stanford Research Institute engineers bought an abandoned winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The vineyards had been planted in the late 19th century by a San Francisco physician who produced his first vintage in the original winery, called Monte Bello, in 1892. The first Ridge vintage was in 1962. John Olney is Head…
Homefire of Sonoma was founded by Mike Sterling in 2002. Located in Healdsburg, Homefire is dedicated to making delicious Zinfandel. Mike also happens to be the winemaker. The lineup at Homefire includes several single vineyards Zinfandels. 2020 Homefire of Sonoma Zinfandel Daydream Vineyard – Bright red in color. 15.5% ABV. Sourced from Pony Ranch in a 5 year old vineyard…
Alberto Rafanelli, an Italian immigrant, first founded A. Rafanelli Winery in the early 1900’s. It wasn’t until the early 70’s that Alberto’s son, Americo, came out with the present day label and started selling the wine commercially. David and Patty Rafanelli now run the winery and a 4th generation Rafanelli, their daughter Shelly, is the winemaker. The winery is perhaps…
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…
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 50 separate wines from 47 different vineyards, some with vines that date back to the late 1800’s. Tegan Passalacqua is the Director of Winemaking at Turley and…
Bedrock Wine Co. was founded by Morgan Twain-Peterson in 2007 and focuses on small production wines from many of California’ s most treasured and historic vineyards. The lineup of wines at Bedrock is expanding rapidly, but I think the best of the best are the ancient vineyard Zinfandels, Morgan is clearly passion about. Pagani Ranch is just off Highway 12…
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 . Carlisle Vineyard, planted in 1927, lies in the Piner/Olivet area of the Russian River Valley.…