2016 Black Sears Vineyard Zinfandel - T-Vine Winery

Dehydrated blackberry, crushed pepper, spiced fig. Dark cherry compote, lava rocks, dried goji berry. Thick bramble and sagebrush, wilted rose petal and potpourri. Brooding yet ethereal fruit beams with marvelously lean power, spilling out black currant, huckleberry, and date amidst mixed peppercorn and pronounced spice. Dried flowers delicately complement the imposing yet gorgeously restrained and spicy fruit-driven attack before the scene turns wild in favor of weathered wood, acacia leaf, and thorny briar. Anise, paprika, and jalapeno seeds slowly surface then quickly overpower cinnamon and nutmeg, triumphing with relative ease and lingering for some time. Earthy undertones are intertwined throughout revealing iron, walnut shell, and tremendous volcanic minerality that exposes itself as porous basalt and charcoal pencil. Deep and full bodied yet far from heavy, with medium tannin and gorgeously elevated acidity. This 2016 Black Sears Vineyard Zinfandel by T-Vine Winery is a complex and multidimensional beauty from high up in Howell Mountain.

Perched in the Vaca Mountains in the north-eastern corner of Napa Valley lies the unique appellation of Howell Mountain. This high elevation region is well known internationally for producing dark, structured, age-worthy Cabernet, but its strengths are not limited to Bordeaux grapes. This bottling, crafted by T-Vine Winery using Zinfandel sourced from the Black Sears Vineyard, is an absolute revelation. It expresses distinctly dark and volcanic Howell Mountain terroir yet manages to still project a sense of wonderfully lean Zinfandel typicity. It is neither sappy nor heavy and remains remarkably expressive despite tremendous restraint. Another outstanding wine from T-Vine showcasing an extraordinary grape, vineyard, and region.