Peter Franus Zinfandel Brandlin Vineyards Mount Veeder Napa Valley 2017
“(Brandlin Vineyard) is as close to heaven as I am going to get.” -- Peter Franus’ mother
So, what were you doing in 1926? Well, at 1200 feet on Mount Veeder here in Napa the Brandlin family was planting Zinfandel and you are about to be able to drink it and love it as much as we do -- for colossally less than the rest of the world!!! Wow!!
There is a long, rich history with this magnificent vineyard, and you’ll undoubtedly GET IT on the first sip….OK, wait...you saw that price, right??
Where were we….….much like the old vineyards Ridge/Turley/etc. work with, this is a classic old-school California “field blend” of 10% intermixed varietals (Mourvèdre, Charbono, and Carignane) among the 90% Zinfandel. ENORMOUS complexity, from the elevation and vine age --- bubbling, percolating and brimming with brambly blackberry, peppercorn, rosewater, toasty vanilla bean, crushed rocks, anise and blueberry...man, this will send your brain into overdrive. Very “Zinny” (juicy, sweet blueberry) but not a heavy wine at all (it clocks in at 14.9% alc), it’s more about complex, layered fruit and length than “in your face” weight. Fresh, juicy, DELICIOUS! CLASSIC. THE PRICE!!!
Very little made, and very little in our warehouse....while it lasts!
From the day we made our first wine in 1987, our goal has always been the same – to produce delicious and reasonably priced wines that distinguish themselves with their unique character, richness, harmony and the genuine sense of the mountain and hillside vineyards they came from.
Technical Details
Country: United StatesRegion: California
Appellation: Napa Valley
Varietal: Zinfandel
Vineyard: Brandlin
Winemaker: Peter Franus
Aging/Cooperage: 18 months in barrel—1/3 new French oak—Burgundy coopers
Harvest Date: Sept 9, 2017
Alcohol: 14.90%
PH: 3.68
TA: 0.61g/100mLs
Production: 906
About The Producer
It’s become a cliché, but it is also absolutely true, great wines come from great vineyards. And because of my decades in Napa Valley and the 30-plus years I’ve had to explore the region and meet the people there, I’ve had the opportunity to identify and work with the best vineyards in the region. The excellence and character of those sites guarantee that I will get the highest quality fruit possible every year.
Many years ago, when I was starting as a winemaker, I wrote something that still embodies my guiding principle for making wine. I wrote, “My greatest satisfaction comes when I see a smile and hear the simple comment, ‘This is delicious." Wine for me is a sensual experience, and my goal is to provide as much pleasure as I can.
All the great wines I’ve enjoyed have a few features in common – richness, complexity, harmony, balance, and most of all, they invited you to come back and discover something new with each taste. I love wines that are elusive, wines that you can’t explain or put a finger on completely.
Those are the ideas that guide my winemaking. I have great respect for tradition, and I rely mostly on intuition and, of course, taste, to guide my decisions. I try to intervene as little as possible in a wine’s evolution, and I do know that if you hover over a wine, you make the wine nervous.
-Peter
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