A light-bodied Zinfandel that remains fruit-driven with intense notes of bramble berries and dried herbs framed by smooth tannins.
Variety: 100% Zinfandel
Vineyard: Del Barba Vineyard
Location: Contra Costa County, CA
Alcohol: 13.9%
Production: 168 cases
Light-bodied but with intense fruit. Bramble berries, chocolate and dried herbs. A balance of being fruit driven, while showing restrained alcohol and smooth tannins.
Fermented in oak fermenters for between 20 and 26 days. It was barreled down into neutral Burgundy barrels and aged on full lees for 9 months subsequently. During this time it was not racked or fined. It was bottled and aged in bottle for an additional 10 months before its release.
The Del Barba Family has been farming vineyards in and around Oakley since the early 1900s. Vineyards are farmed in pure Delhi sand with little intervention and even less water. The old Del Barba Ranch on Rose Avenue in Oakley, with its centennial center block of Carignane, Mataro (otherwise known as Mourvèdre), and Zinfandel, is surrounded by a block of ‘juvenile’ 30-year-old Zinfandel, which is where the Erggelet brothers pick their Carignane and Zinfandel.
