Thank God for Carol Shelton !!!

Why? A few reasons:

🍷 They have quickly risen in popularity to become one of our most requested wineries lately.

🍷 We caught their inventories at rock bottom and thought what a great opportunity to bring to our Operatives.

🍷Her mastery of Zinfandel is unmatched. Seriously, very few people can do it like she does.

Of course, great scores and a sub-$30 price helps, too.

This Zin comes from Russian River Valley, and an extra special site. In high-end single-site Zin terms, Collins is synonymous with Limerick Lane and their famous home base. What Carol did to take things up a notch from there. Beyond words… oh and Bacchi too is farmed by them, so and they were both planted in 1908. This shares the red fruits and takes on mineral and spice nuances. There’s no doubt this is going places, and the first stop is our thirsty tummies.

Carol Shelton has mastered the Zen of Zin as a proclaimed Queen of the varietal. We’ve rolled out some of her Cabs before, but when we feature a Shelton Zin - (her specialty) - Operatives go BERZERK. Rightfully so! We hear you, and go back to the winery to see what they have for us, it’s often a nothing.

But here it is Ops! It’s our/your day. Arguably the greatest Zin values you’ll come across this year, maybe ever. The price tags you see here are the lowest today, tomorrow, basically anytime they will ever be.

If you’re unfamiliar with the legacy of Carol Shelton, here’s a must-watch ZAP panel on the Queen of Zin with fellow luminaries Joel Peterson, Larry Turley, and Kent Rosenblum:

We really don’t have the space here to list all her accolades. And surely not enough of this wine to waste more time. But know this - she’s a true legend. A few noteworthy ones include The André Tchelistcheff Award in 1993, Winemaker of the Year by Press Democrat in 1999, San Francisco Chronicle in 2005, and NorthBay biz in 2022 and 2023.

“A winemaker since 1978…” expounds Wine Industry Advisor “…Shelton is well known in the industry as a maker of world-class single-vineyard Zinfandels…”

For this crazy price, a wow wine indeed, the scores don’t do justice. Very little was left…

92 Points – Wine Enthusiast “This plush and fruit-driven old-vine Zin, from vines planted in 1908, gives loads of fresh raspberry, cherry, red licorice, and kirsch aromas on the nose. The palate has a marvelously soft texture, but a core of zippy acidity keeps things fresh and lively.”