John Balletto first started farming in 1977 at the age of 17. From 5 acres in Sebastopol, he continued to expand the acreage, and moved into growing grapes. In 2001 he made his first vintage, with just over 1,000 cases of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. In 2003 he added Zinfandel to the lineup. The tasting room was opened in January of 2006 in the Russian River Valley. It is shared with the Dutton-Goldfield Winery.
With winemaker Dan Cederquist, they produced 1,388 cases of the '05 Estate Zinfandel. It spent 10 months in American oak. While the vines are less than 10 years old, they are showing good flavors already. This one came in at 14.2% alcohol.
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Mike Officer, the owner and winemaker for Carlisle Winery, started off by making 5 gallons of Zinfandel in his kitchen. By 1997 he had grown to making 300 cases of "Garage" wine, mostly single vineyard zinfandels. In 1998 he and his wife Kendall launched Carlisle Winery. In 2004 he left his "Day Job" to spend all his time making fantastic wines with the help of Jay Maddox. He is now producing 4,000 cases of some of the best Zinfandels and Syrahs you can find. His entire supply is sold out within weeks of his mailer going out.
Carlisle Winery produces eight different Zinfandels, five single vineyards and three blends. The "Carlisle Vineyard" is in the Russian River AVA. It was planted in 1927, and is a field blend with some Petite Sirah, Alicante Bouschet, Grand Noir de la Calmette and Carignane. "Fava Ranch" is also in Russian River. It was planted between 1907 and 1922. "Tom Feeney Ranch" is the third of the Russian River vineyards. Planted in 1926, this vineyard is mostly zinfandel, along with a field blend of other varietals.
From the Sonoma Valley AVA is the "Rossi Ranch", which was planted in 1910. It is completely dry farmed and organic. Sonoma County's contribution is the "Riebli Ranch". The three blends are the Dry Creek, Russian River and Sonoma County Zinfandels. The Dry Creek contributors include such renowned vineyards as "Ray Teldeschi Ranch" and "Mount's Ranch". If you are lucky enough to find any of the Carlisle wines in your local wine store, grab onto them. The alternative is joining the wait to get on the mailing list.
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Located on the east side of the 101 freeway, just south of Healdsburg, Christopher Creek Winery is one of the northernmost wineries in the Russian River AVA. It is a fairly small, family owned winery, producing only 4,500 cases a year. Winemaker Chris Russi produces two Zinfandels, along with a selection of Rhone varietals.
The "Russian River Zinfandel" is normally 70% Old Clone zinfandel, and 30% 80+ year old, dry farmed Zinfandel, with a little Alicante Bouschet and Carignane mixed in for a field blend. The "Dry Creek Zinfandel" is a small run zin, with less than 600 cases usually produced. Both are well worth pursuing.
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Warren Dutton first planted grapes in the Russian River Valley in 1964. Today the entire Dutton Ranch is comprised of over 60 small, unique vineyard sites.His son, Steve Dutton has worked with Dan Goldfield as grower and winemaker since 1990. Dan has his master's degree in Enology from UC Davis, and has worked at a number of wineries, including Robert Mondavi and Hartford Court. Together Steve and Dan created Dutton-Goldfield Winery in 1998. They now share a tasting room with Balletto Winery.
Dutton-Goldfield Winery produces two Zinfandels. The first is the "Morelli Lane Vineyard" Zinfandel. Dan found this untended, old vine vineyard in Green Valley in 1994. It consists of 1.8 acres of dry-farmed, head pruned , 100+ year old vines that had not been picked for five years. They are able to get just over 200 cases from this vineyard. The second Zinfandel is "Russian River" Zinfandel, a blend from the Alper and Mike Feeney vineyards that yields just under 500 cases. Both of these wines spend 10 months in French oak, with 40% new barrels. The most recent vintage of both wines came in at 14.5% alcohol.
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Founded by Dr. Elias Hanna in 1985, Hanna Winery has grown from a winery using all purchased fruit, to one using 100% estate grown fruit. Over 250 of its 600 acres are planted with vines. The eldest daughter, Christine Hanna, now runs the daily operation. With winemaker Jeff Hinchliffe, they produce 40,000 cases a year. Hanna Winery has one of their Hospitality Centers high on a hill in the Alexander Valley, with a smaller one in the Russian River AVA.
They offer three Zinfandels. The first is the Sonoma Valley Zinfandel, a mid priced blend. The second is the Reserve Zinfandel, made with fruit from the Pourray Vineyard in Alexander Valley. The top of the line is the Bismark Ranch Zinfandel, with the fruit from the estate vineyard situated high in the Mayacamas Mountains.
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One of the well known Zinfandel producers, Hartford Winery was founded in 1993 by Don and Jennifer Hartford. With winemaker Jeff Mamgahas, they are dedicated to making "delicious wines of high personality." They perform this by obtaining the fruit from small, low yielding vineyards located throughout the Russian River Valley.
At the moment they produce six Zinfandels and a Zinfandel Port. The "Russian River Valley" Zinfandel is a blend, while the other five are single vineyard bottlings. "Highwire Vineyard" comes from a vineyard of 96 years old vines. Half are head-trained, while the other half are on high wire trellises. This vineyard yields just under 500 cases. The "Fanucchi-Wood Road Vineyard" was planted in 1906. It is completely dry farmed, with chest high head trained vines that yield 350 cases a year. The "Hartford Vineyard" is now tended by Don Hartford. These early 1900, head pruned vines only yield 1.5 tons per acre, for only 170 cases. "Dina's Vineyard" is down to only 5 acres left of head pruned, dry farmed, 98 year old vines, which offer up just under 500 cases. The final entrant is "Jolene's Vineyard" which is a recent addition to the lineup. The port is a "Russian River Valley" offering.
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Bob and Ginny Pitts have been growing and selling the grapes from their Russian River vineyard since 1977. In 2000 their son, Randy Pitts, returned home and took over the farming. In 2002 he made his first vintage of Zinfandel, 410 cases in all. This was the start of Harvest Moon Winery. I was lucky enough to get a taste of this wine when I visited the winery. It features a dense, dark fruit nose that was enough to keep me swirling and sniffing for minutes. The solid fruit taste slid smoothly into a lingering, velvety aftertaste. If this was the first effort, I want to get in on the future endeavors.
They make three Zinfandels, and a Late Harvest Zinfandel. The entry level is "RandyZin", featuring a picture of Randy and his wife Kelly riding a guitar on the label. They make about 570 cases of this, which is a blend of 100% Zinfandel from four vineyards, including one from Lodi. The next level up is the "Russian River Valley" Zinfandel. This is 60% estate fruit, with 40% from a neighboring vineyard. Just over 300 cases of this are produced. The "Russian River Valley Pitt's Home Ranch Estate", with 420 cases produced, rounds out the Zinfandels. This enthusiastic young winemaker seems to be on the right path so far.
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Limerick Lane Cellars is located on, where else, Limerick Lane! In 1977 Michael Collins, brother Tom and friend Ted Markoczy bought 30 acres of unkept fields and decrepit buildings, complete with squatters and chicken coops. The cleaned up the estate, retaining some old Zinfandel vines planted about 1910. New vines were planted so that 24 of the 30 acres are now planted with Zinfandel. The fruit was sold to local wineries. With the high quality, it was in demand. The first crush was in 1986, with the winery completed in 1993. Tom was tragically killed shortly after this, and Michael kept the winery going as a tribute. In 1997 Ross Battersby took over as the winemaker. In 2002 Ted took his own life, missing the opening of the tasting room the next year.
Limerick Lane is at the extreme northern end of the Russian River AVA. The Zinfandel vines are all head pruned and dry farmed. No pesticides or fungicides are used. Fava beans are planted between the rows every winter, and plowed under to provide nitrogen to the soil. The two current Zinfandels are made from 100% estate fruit. Both see French and Hungarian oak, with 25 - 30% new. The wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered. The first is the "Collins Vineyard", and the second is "Old Vine" from the old estate vines. They also have a "1023", which is a Zinfandel / Syrah blend. A third Zinfandel, "Deco Zin", is being introduced. It is made with fruit from vines planted in 1934. At Limerick Lane Cellars, 90% of the total winery production is Zinfandel.
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Novy Family Wines is owned by Adam and Dianna Lee, and Dianna's family from Ennis, Texas. Novy is Czech for "New". The Novy family is proud of their old world heritage, and continue to produce wines that express their love of history, place and family. They work the harvest and bottling, and represent the Novy brand at winemaker's dinners and tastings. The winery, and the winemaking, is co produced with Adam and Dianna's first effort, Siduri Wines. Siduri Wines make Pinot Noir, while Novy Family Wines produces non-Pinot Noir varietals. Both wineries subscribe to the fact that "Only with great grapes can we produce great wines".
Novy produces three fantastic Zinfandels along with the rest of their lineup. They are the single vineyard offerings from "Barbieri", "Carlisle Vineyard" and "Papera Vineyard". These are rarely found outside the tasting room, so getting on the mailing list, which doesn't require purchasing any wines you didn't select, is highly recommended.
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When Frane Franicevis was a child in Croatia, he spent some of his days helping his grandfather pick Mali Plavic, the offspring of Zinfandel. After coming to the United States, and spending some time in New Orleans as a fisherman and in Atlanta in school, he ended up in San Francisco working on his Ph.D. He was drawn to Sonoma County, and in 1991 founded a winery. Sunce was re-launched in 1997. The word "Sunce", pronounced "Soon-say", is Croatian for "Sun". The winery and main tasting room is in the Russian River area.
Sunce produces three Zinfandels, and a Late Harvest Zinfandel. The "Young Buck" Zinfandel is from the Russian River Valley, and the "Pena Creek" is from the Dry Creek Valley. These are both made from old vine fruit. The "Baker Vineyard", from the Russian River Valley, is a very limited production wine, with about 6 - 8 barrels being produced. The fruit for the Late Harvest Zinfandel is from the "Buck Hill Vineyard in the Russian River Valley. It is also from some old vines.
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