We’re all watching a lot of movies these days. If Zinfandel was an actor it would be John Wayne: rustic with an edge, confident with a smooth delivery. Zinfandel is a character that belongs relaxing by a campfire.
Speaking of fire, it’s been a hard year in California. Our hearts go out to all those affected by the devastation. We feel blessed that our region was largely spared from ash and smoke damage.
As such, our 2020 Zinfandel is looking great. We picked it on October 5th when a toasty, fall heatwave rolled through the Central Coast. We were pleased the “fruit-set” on the vines was pretty light this year, meaning higher quality berries. And, we still received our allotted four tons yielding about 275 cases of wine.
We expect the 2020 vintage to resemble the 2017 we’re currently offering in the tasting room.
2017 Zinfandel Quick and Dirty Tasting Notes:
A touch of oak on the nose. Soft, supple texture, raspberry and blackberry with a dusting of white pepper on the finish. Pair with a Tri-Tip over a red oak fire. Enjoy by 2024.
Chemistry (For those of you into this kind of stuff):
2017 Zinfandel - ONX Vineyards - Templeton
Alcohol by Volume: 15.4%
pH: 3.71
TA: 0.68
RS: 0.22
Zinfandel Fun Facts:
“Old Vine” designation has no government regulation, but usually means the vines are older than 40 years
Zinfandel was widely planted in California during the Gold Rush
White Zinfandel was created by mistake (some say it still is ;-)
Zinfandel is genetically identical to Primitivo
Zinfandel is originally from Croatia
Todd and Kendra were suppose to go to Croatia next year but, yeah, pandemic
ONX Vineyards just after dawn
Trailering the 1/2-ton picking bins out to the vineyard