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2006 Sonoma Valley Bismark Mountain Zinfandel
This hearty Zin showcases heady aromas of spicy boysenberry, raspberry and mocha. This wine is bright medium ruby in color and has a polished, supple mouth feel with big but fine tannins and a creamy balanced finish. Aged in new American, then new French oak barrels for 26 months total.
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Our Bismark Mountain Ranch is high above the City of Sonoma and the San Pablo Bay. Here on the southwestern flanks of the Mayacamas Mountains we farm 60 acres of Bordeaux Reds, Zinfandel and Syrah amid outcroppings of Rhyolite. We began planting in 1991 and continue to fine tune our mix of cultivars to this day. This is steep ground; shared with Creosote bush, Digger pine, coyote and mountain lion. Topographically it is similar to the Douro. It is also windy and surprisingly cool. Bismark grudgingly produces grapes with an intense, deeply concentrated flavor. Bismark’s unique terroir is both fierce and alluring. We planted two and three quarter acres of the Weiss and Shenandoah selections in 1993. In 2000 we grafted an additional 2676 vines (3.99 acres) to Zinfandel as well as 746 vines to Petite Sirah. In all we have 5 small blocks of Zinfandel at Bismark. Berries are typically small -blueberry sized at maturity.
Spring of 2006 was sodden, and bloom was late but very successful. July began cool but became blistering, exceeding 100o F for several days. August was cool, allowing varietal character to develop. The crop sized well and we decided in early September to pull wings and shoulders for our Jasmine Rose. Flavor and sugar developed nicely after this and we picked our Bismark Zinfandel from September 15 to the 27th at an average of 28 brix.
This hearty Zin showcases heady aromas of spicy boysenberry, raspberry and mocha. This wine is bright medium ruby in color and has a polished, supple mouth feel with big but fine tannins and a creamy balanced finish. Aged in new American, then new French oak barrels for 26 months total.
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