Ottimino
2007 Rancho Bello Vineyard Zinfandel
Zinfandel •Rancho Bello Vineyard
Russian River Valley
Mission Briefing
The Luckiest Number Since…
A fantastic follow-up to the wonderful 2006 that we featured last year. This 2007 Ottimino Ranch Bello Vineyard Zinfandel is a far juicier, far more elegant and delicious wine. This vintage retains the crushed velvet fullness of the previous vintage, but it also has broader, fuller flavors.
Big and juicy, bursting with black and red fruit – on the nose and on the palate – this delicious wine possesses a great deal of charm and character. Decant for optimum results, and be rewarded with more natural-tasting fruit and elegant spice. Pair with a roast, tangy BBQ or a herb roasted chicken.
Tasting Profile
| Look: | Gorgeous dark ruby hues, with perfectly even coloration, right out to the fine red edging of the wine. After a soft swirl, fine, wine colored legs move slowly down the wall of the glass. |
|---|---|
| Smell: | Black cherry and blackberry absolutely leap from the glass. Just behind these, fragrant spiced strawberry candy, dark chocolate, leather and mixed dark dried flower petals join in. |
| Taste: | Dark and very juicy, with darkest black cherry, blackberry and dark plum that expand onto the palate. As these flavors settle in, new flavors emerge, including red plum, dark strawberry, bramble bush, cocoa dust, black tea, flint and black pepper. |
| Finish: | Very long, with an initial rush of dark dark fruit that subsides, gradually yielding to red fruit flavors, spice and earthy elements. |
| Pairing: |
What the Winery Says
Originally planted in 1988 common stock selected from 120 year old vines in an Alexander Valley vineyard, Rancho Bello produces time and again, some of the most fantastic Zinfandels that we produce.
Bright cherry and raspberry aromas are tinged with hints of white pepper, blackberry, Occidental dust, and oak. Flavors erupt on entry, with black cherry spice and bramble dominating the mid-palate. Velvety tannins anchor a great depth and concentration of flavor, and the excellent balance makes this Zinfandel extremely versatile and an excellent food wine.
VINTAGE
Vintage 2007 was spectacular in all ways, with virtually ideal weather from start to finish. Bud break occurred normally during a dry, temperate spring, and warm but reasonable temperatures continued all the way through the summer into late fall with nary a hint of moisture. The near perfect weather led to the most even ripening we have ever seen at Rancho Bello, and the fruit we harvested in late September had stunningly deep color, virtually no raisins, and modest-sized clusters. Winemakers dream of harvests like these!
WINEMAKING:
After hand-harvesting, the grapes were left to cold soak for 2 days, increasing the flavor and tannin extraction from the grapes. Fermentation was begun with native yeasts, and then a small dose of D254 strain winemaking yeast was added to carry the fermentation to completion. With 20 days of total maceration, the wine was then pressed and racked to barrels where malolactic fermentation began spontaneously, there after it was racked every quarter in the old world claret style. At bottling the wine had 22 months in French Oak barrels; 40% new & 60% 1- & 2-year-old.
Technical Analysis:
Vintage: 2007.
Appellation: Russian River Valley.
Harvest Date: 9/28/07.
Sugar: 25.4.
Acid: 5.6g/L.
PH: 3.78.
Aging: 22 months in 40% new oak.
Bottling Date: 7/30/09.
Residual Sugar: 0.08%.
Alcohol: 15.1%
About the Winery
Ottimino has successfully produced fine zinfandels for so long due to the people that have put their hearts and souls into perfecting every step of the winemaking process. From growing and harvesting the grapes to making and bottling the wine, we here at Ottimino are proud of our combined heritage that brings these great wines to you.
We have built slowly on Ottimino Cristiani’s legacy, as befits the traditions of Old World quality and craftsmanship, but the results are now for all to see…and taste and enjoy!
Winemaker William Knuttel
Long time California wine- maker William Knuttel has concentrated on ultra-premium wine making for the majority of his wine career. Knuttel’s philosophy has long been to make an enormous range of wines in various styles in any given vintage, for the simple reason that a winemaker only gets to make a limited number of vintages over his lifetime. This wealth of experience has led directly to his adherence to traditional winemaking practices.
He consults for numerous wineries, for whom he produces a broad stable of labels across many varieties of Napa and Sonoma wines. He is Executive Winemaker for Dry Creek Vineyard, where he has completely re-honed the styles and quality of that winery’s extensive portfolio. His career includes being owner/winemaker of Tria, founded in 1993 and VP/Winemaker at Chalk Hill Winery from 1996 to 2003 as well as being Saintsbury’s winemaker from 1983 to 1996, establishing that brand as an international leader in high-end Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Vineyard Notes
Ottimino produces dry farmed Zinfandel from the cooler climates of the Sonoma Coast. Dry farming the grapes forces the roots to grow deep into the soil to find their own source of water and nutrients. This reduces the stress we put on the environment by not wasting water, and also buffers the vines from seasonal variations in temperature and rainfall.
Growing Zinfandel in a cool climate increases the time it takes to ripen the grapes, creating fuller flavors at lower sugars, and producing wines with less alcohol, more developed flavors and better acid balance than the hotter regions most notable for Zinfandel.