Vino In My Dino

A Legacy Continues!

September 24, 2024 09:43

Part of the excitement of being a small family winery is I get to work with winemaker Montse Reece to develop new wines to add to our portfolio. She knows the vineyards well, this is her 18th harvest at Pedroncelli! These are small lot of single vineyard estate wines (blocks really) that are deemed exceptional in quality. In the coming months, we are introducing four new wines.

2022 Legacy Block Home Ranch Vineyard Zinfandel

The inaugural release of our Legacy Block Zinfandel is a celebration of the grape here at Pedroncelli. Our house is founded on this versatile grape and we now have four prime examples of what we and Dry Creek Valley can produce—stellar Zins!

Zinfandel has been planted on the property since 1904. The founders Giovanni & Giulia Pedroncelli purchased a shuttered winery, a home, and 25 acres of mostly Zinfandel in 1927. A second generation was planted on the property in the early 1980s. The Legacy Block was the third generation and was planted in 2016.

When Vineyard Manager Lance Blakeley was choosing the clone to plant on the 3 acres of hillside, he chose the Rockpile Clone which was developed to the north of us and proven to produce high quality fruit on steep hillsides. It also sets a smaller more manageable crop so the fruit ripens evenly. This is important because Zinfandel is a famous uneven ripener.

Once the vineyard began to produce fruit it caught winemaker Montse Reece’s eye. She noticed that it showed a different side of the Zinfandel grape-one she had not detected in our other Zinfandels. She described the aromas as distinctive with wild berries, licorice, pomegranate and baking spices.

The yeast she chose to ferment this Zinfandel was also derived from the Rockpile area and she feels complements the grapes while they ferment, bringing out the best in the fruit and adding complexity to the wine. The Legacy Zin is a very aromatic lighter-style zin. Montse uses American oak from Missouri with a lighter toast showcasing the fruit better without overpowering the wine.

The legacy indeed continues as we sourced the fruit from the our latest replanting of Zinfandel.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, Zinfandel, Single Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon
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