Today’s Wine Guerrilla 2012 Conte Vineyard Russian River Valley Zinfandel hails from the tiny 2 acre Conte Vineyard in Russian River Valley, a little bit south of the town of Healdsburg.

The Conte Vineyard was planted in 1995 to support the creation of field blends of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Alicante Bouschet, Carignane and Grenache. These grapes are all commingled in the field, then harvested and fermented together to create a wine with great complexity and depth of flavor.

This wine is heady and very bold on the nose, with aromas of black cherry, blackberry, cassis, baker’s chocolate, spice box, raisin, raspberry, licorice and toasted oak.

Flavors are bold, full and rich, with blackberry, raspberry jam, sweet baking spices, licorice, black cherry compote, baker’s chocolate, cassis, subtle sweet tobacco and cracked pepper.

The Russian River Valley AVA in Sonoma county is particularly is known for exceptional Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but with enough sunlight exposure to aid ripening, Zinfandel also grows quite well here. This AVA was officially designated in 1983, but many of the wines in the region used the designation as early as the 1970s (early in California’s wine history) with the many of the vines having been first planted in the early 1900s.

Awards:

Gold Medal at 2016 Finger Lakes Wine Competition