Post Flirtation Red

From Martha Stoumen: This wine is so joyous, and to me, distinctly Californian. I never knew how much I loved Zinfandel until I started working as Chris Brockway’s (Broc Cellars) Assistant Winemaker. When picked before the grape berries begin to shrivel, you get amazing hibiscus, rhubarb, pomegranate, and baking spices from Zin. Like an avocado, the window is small between unripe and overripe for Zin, and I watch our Zinfandel vineyards closely. Carignan, Zin’s less celebrated companion, provides a savory component reminiscent of driving through California chaparral and can be incredibly complex with 75 years of vine age. I’m not re-inventing the wheel with this classic old vine Zin/Carignan blend, just lightening things up a bit.

Zinfandel (100% destemmed) and Carignan (95% whole cluster, 5% destemmed) hand-harvested and fermented separately. A mixture of punchdowns and pumpovers were used to gently extract tannin and each lot was pressed prior to dryness. Aged in a combination of stainless steel and neutral oak barrique for 6 months before blending with a small percentage of reserve Carignan from 2021, which aged in neutral oak barrique for 28 months. Unfined. Unfiltered. Sediment expected.