Haarmeyer Calaveras Zinfandel 2021

Description

Rorick Heritage vineyard is one of the most fascinating vineyards for me. It was originally surveyed during the gold rush and copies of that survey are stored on the property today. They did not find any gold but they did find limestone out-croppings jutting up from the valley floor, surrounded by decomposed schist, which constitutes the hillsides on each side of the valley. The vineyard was first planted to Cabernet and Chardonnay. Although we may have grown a bit tired of the Cab/Chard domination in California, it is worth noting that these blocks were own-rooted and the chardonnay is of Wente origins. About twenty years ago, the Stevenot folks planted the surrounding hillsides with Zinfandel, Syrah, Viognier and other sun loving Rhone varieties.

This is one of our wines we refer to as partial-carbonic since we do not destem the clusters. We simply pour them into open top one ton fermenters, put the lid on and let nature take its course. Until the fermentation really gets going, we work the cap with our hands, turning over the fruit and keeping the top wet. Once it’s fermenting more vigorously we foot tread the cap. Then we press at about 0 Brix to a neutral 500L oval puncheons. The wine remains sur lie until we bottle without fining or filtration in March.