The Novy Russian River Valley Zinfandel is a reflection of the quality of the vineyards selected to comprise this wine. This Zin comes almost exclusively from the Jensen Lane Vineyard (planted in 1915), the Limerick Lane Vineyard (planted in 1910), and the Carlisle Vineyard (planted in 1927). These older vine vineyards contribute exceptional fruit quality and concentration, while their Russian River Valley locations translate to bright, crisp acidity making for a Zinfandel that is both lively and extremely well-balanced.

At the beginning of the 2017 growing season, we saw an incredible amount of rainfall in Northern California, bringing an end to the almost 5-year period of drought. However, the rain caused delays in the vineyard–both in the growth of the vine, as well as in the work that needed to get done by our vineyard teams. From Spring into Summer, the weather was all over the board: late-lifting morning fog, windy days, and heat spikes kept us on our toes. At first, we expected the yields to be rather sizeable; but as the clusters developed, we saw smaller berry sizes and lower cluster weights in the vineyard. Our last day receiving fruit at Siduri was Friday, October 6th, two days before the Tubbs fire, fortunately, our winery and our lots from the 2017 vintage survived, and our team was safe.

The Limerick Lane Vineyard kicked off the harvest in late August. This vineyard is typically our first Zinfandel site picked. The Jensen Lane Vineyard followed closely behind, with one section coming in a week before the other. The Carlisle Vineyard was the last to be harvested, in mid-September. The Carlisle Vineyard is located in a slightly cooler part of the Russian River Valley and is planted with a more varied varietal mix. Wines from each of these vineyards were made separately. We then handpicked select barrels from each vineyard for the Russian River Valley Appellation blend. These wines were racked together to create the final blend, going back to barrel (all French oak, about 20% new) and then bottled without fining or filtration in August. The resulting wine is rich and broad, offering aromas and flavors of plum, cherry compote, and cinnamon.