92 Points – Jeb Dunnuck
Tasting Notes
The palate is deep, rich and extraordinarily endowed from the front of the palate to the richness of the mid palate and finish. Black cherry and freshly crushed black and red peppercorns are the highlight with chocolate and vanilla bean notes. A total sensorial experience.
Ratings
92 Pts Jeb Dunnuck The 2015 Zinfandel Cassatta Vineyard is another Sonoma Valley release. This beauty leads with its fruit and offers loads of currants, plums, blueberry, and earthy spice characteristics, full body, a rounded, voluptuous style, and beautiful purity. It gains complexity with time in the glass and, as with all of Jeff's wines, it's beautifully balanced.
Awards
92 Pts Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the 2015 Zinfandel Cassata Vineyard opens with expressive kirsch, stewed plums and baked blackberry scents plus nuances of dried herbs, cardamom, cloves, incense and fertile soil. Full-bodied, rich and boldly fruited in the mouth, it has a grippy frame and just enough freshness to lift the spice-laced fruit to a nice long finish.
Vineyard Notes
Selection: Chauvet, Monte Rosso, Pagani, PS Clone 1 Age of vines: 10 years Elevation: 460 ft Avg Temp: 50-85 degrees Avg Harvest Date: early to mid-October Farming techniques: Bio-Dynamic Vineyard Head trained Zin, Trellised PS Soils: Loamy, skeletal, clay, very rocky. Produces a Zin that is light on its feet Cool climate hillside vineyard behind the famous Pagani Ranch.
Production Notes
Vinification: 15% whole cluster, all de-stemmed, not crushed, open top fermenters, punch downs 5 x day
Winemaker Notes
Blackberry jam, chocolate covered cherries, ground crushed black pepper and black licorice components
Wine Specs
Vintage: 2015
Varietal: Zinfandel
Vineyard Designation: Cassata Vineyard
Aging: 16 mos. 30% New French Oak 228 to 350 L barrels
Fermentation: 15% Whole Cluster Open Top Fermentation
Alcohol: 15.6%
Gold Medal
Generously packed with black cherry, cola, cassis, and plum that all intermingle together in a creamy, velvety texture with great layering, finishing with delightful notes of oak and spice. Persistent, well-defined structure, wonderfully balanced.
90 Points
Rich and voluptuous with ripe raspberry, cherry, and plum, layered with hints of lavender, fig compote, and exotic spice. Concentrated and complex, the palate is a balanced interplay cocoa, and a hint of espresso, creating both richness and intrigue. Vibrant acidity and silky tannins that contribute heft and length that coat the palate with luscious ripeness that keeps on giving.
94 Points
A classic expression of coastal influenced Chardonnay with aromas of honey, apple chutney, lime blossom, and gentle Indian spice box undertones. A big juicy entry on the palate, showing a silky texture with excellent tension and structure, ending with a complex, layered finish.
96 Points
Aromas of blackberry, black cherry, huckleberry, floral violet and savory spice. The palate is full and layered, with robust, age-worthy tannins and gorgeous flavors of dark berries, mocha and chocolate-covered cherries mingling with hints of graphite, fig and fine leather. Smooth tannins, firm structure and silky texture coat the palate on route to a long, generous finish.
Exceptional!
Reddish-purple in color with aromas of blackberry, plum, pomegranate, herbs de Provence, and licorice. The palate is full, structured and balanced with blackberry, currant, black cherry, cassis, and licorice that carries through, with notes of black pepper, mocha and chocolate. Very long, spicy, with a fruit-driven finish. Great aging potential.
Gold Medal
Light pink in color with aromas of watermelon, cranberry, orange rind, and fresh spring flowers that leap from the glass. The palate offers more peach, strawberry, and melon, with an intriguing note of rose and hibiscus. It's crisp with just the perfect hint of red fruit, and delicate whisper of strawberry that gives goosebumps.
