The Disciples is an extraordinary Zin blend, no doubt.

But this? El Coco? It’s the next level. With 100% G.B. Crane Vineyard fruit how can it not be?

As decadent as they come, this is the next permutation of Phinney’s rule-breaking blends. If The Prisoner was like discovering trigonometry, this is like unraveling the Riemann Hypothesis.

Unlike The Disciples which is a barrel select blend from “heritage vineyards in the Napa Valley* El Coco relies entirely on fruit from the legendary George Belden Crane Vineyard - a 150-year-old monument to “mixed blacks” and home to the second oldest Zinfandel vines in California.

The label hints at what’s inside - a haunting and dark concoction. Specifically, a blend of 71% Zinfandel and 29% Petite Sirah, all dialed to 11, with a VOLUMPTUOUS character. Compared to The Disciples this leans more into the black and blue fruit spectrum, with super-ripe boysenberry, black plums, blueberry jam, black cherry and dusty cocoa. A vein of minerality runs through the middle, with smoked meats, and incense trailing in the wake. It leaves a mouthcoating finish that lasts until the next sip… or gulp.

There’s not much else like it.

It’s such a consistent banger that every El Coco rates 95 points from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate boasting “a deep, full-bodied, huge, massive palate, and incredible finish and length” since the inaugural vintage. The demand so high and yields so low, the press just can’t keep up with the releases.

No wonder Antonio Galloni wrote “The Crane Assembly is one of the most intriguing projects I have come across in some time.”

We grabbed our entire allocation of 20 cases and drank a few, it’s here today, gone when gone.