History
Most of the vineyard was planted in 1947 (Carignane, Charbono, Zinfandel) by Guido Venturi. Gary is now the vineyard owner/manager extraordinaire. The North Hill was actually planted in 1929 by Guido’s parents, Elisco and Laudomia. It was planted to Burger on St. George rootstock and was sold to Weibel for their “Green Hungarian,” in about 1978. It was Gary who budded over the Burger to Zinfandel on the North Hill.

Tasting notes
We thought we would lose the crop due to the 2.5” of rain that fell 10 days before harvest, and then a massive heatwave followed. It came in clean with virtually no mold. (We hand sort, of course.) Though lighter in color and body than our usual, by no means less enjoyable. Beautiful, medium ruby in the glass. Typical aromatics for Guido consisting of bramble, woody barkiness, dust, sage and plum. The palate is a bit more subtle, as it doesn’t explode but gently caresses the tongue and jaws. Flavors of plum, red raspberry, red licorice, white pepper and herbs, like sage and oregano. A medium-drying tannin. A lighter example of this normally bigger Zin. Sadly, next to the last vintage of this wine ever. Enjoy this with a gourmet mushroom cheeseburger.
– Nikolai

The wine showed a medium ruby color. Cherry, raspberry, currant, blackberry, mossy earth and oak each arrived on the nose. Black cherry, raspberry, currant and blackberry drove the nuanced palate trailed by notes of vanilla and oak. The wine was medium-bodied and exhibited good length along with soft tannins. As Nik suggests, this wine would pair very well with a mushroom cheeseburger.
– The Nittany Epicurean

Harvest date October 3, 2022
Ph 3.54
TA 6.8 gr/L
Alcohol 15%
Unfined and Unfiltered
Bottled May 20, 2024

185 cases produced.