Winemaker Chris Christensen’s Notes

As a winemaker, every once in a while you find a vineyard who’s natural swag - or as the French would say Terroir, lends it so well to your style of wine making that it makes you look like you’re better at your job than you really are. For me, PeaceLand is that vineyard.

Located at 800ft elevation in the heart of the Mayacama Mountains between Santa Rosa and Calistoga, The vineyard was planted in 1997 and known as Bugay Vineyards until the Friedland (which translates from old Prussian to Peace Land) family purchased the estate in 2013. The vineyard is best know for having grown grapes for numerous highly rated cult wines for the like of Arnot-Roberts, Carol Shelton, Rhyme Cellars and Lambert Bridge to name a few (A Happy Few, dare we say).

The block that our 2014 PeaceLand Zinfandel was sourced from is planted to the Costamagna Clone of Zinfandel which is know for its medium sized berries and tendency to produce wines that are well structured. This clone in combination with the Southwestern facing hillside, 800 ft elevation, vertical cordon trellising, and the soil’s penchant for acidity create the unique fruit that lends itself so well to our even-over-keel, high intensity, high mouth feel style of winemaking.

With a mindful eye to make sure that we didn’t over extract the tannins during fermentation and much care aromatically, this wine shows great depth and complexity with reserved notes of red berry, plum fruit and tea leaves on the nose. The fruit and spice gain momentum on the palate with the addition of cinnamon, dark berries and cassis as the tannins make their well mannered entrance. Yeah, this wine is all about that mouth feel, boss. Serious plushness and mouth feel from a Zinfandel. The finish is a long yet not over drawn affair that shows notes of the wines 40% new French oak cooperage and mature wine characteristics earned over it’s 16 months in barrel and 8 months in bottle prior to its release.

This wine will age as long as you want it to - trust us and you’ll be spared the chemistry lesson as to why.