2021 Sonoma Coast Zinfandel

Tasting Notes: 

Survival isn't always about beating the odds and coming out on top. Sometimes, it's about needing simply to assert oneselve at a very precise moment. For Zinfandel, the days of surviving are gone. Just 12% of Sonoma County's vineyards are planted to Zinfandel. In the 1850s, following the Gold Rush, it was the third-most planted grape in California. Now, it's about asserting itself as a solid remnant of the past, as it does here, in this lavish wine, with its heady strawberry, cherry, and raspberry fruits, its velvety tannins, its anise and dusty herb nuances, and long mineral-finish. Raise a glass and assert yourself.

Appellation Notes: Sonoma Coast, Sonoma County AVA

This AVA surrounds a host of destination-worthy Northern California towns like Petaluma, Sebastopol, Santa Rosa, Bodega Bay, and Timber Cove—literally all the towns we love to visit when the inland heat is too intense over the summer months. Why? This region is often bathed in cool Pacific breezes and shrouded in fog (and we love the ramen from Ramen Gaijin in Sebastopol). Spicy, juicy Sonoma Coast Zinfandel and spicy, umami-rich Ramen go together like a horse and carriage. Go for the cuisine and climate, and admire the rugged mountainous terrain of Sonoma Coast, which also surrounds Annapolis, Jenner, and points south to Bodega Bay, spilling east inland to encompass the rolling hills of the Russian River Valley and Occidental, Freestone, and then south of Healdsburg, and west and south of Santa Rosa. Established in 1985, this AVA is known for its dazzling, structured, cherry-laced Pinot Noirs and aromatic white wines like Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.