2021 Bedrock Wine Company, Bedrock Vineyard Heritage Red Wine, Sonoma Valley.
There’s so much going on here in Bedrock’s 2021 Heritage Red Zinfandel blend that it almost overwhelms the senses and you can tell this is something special, definitely one of my favorite versions to date, with a deep purple saturation of color, mineral tones and lovely aromatics that include floral and spicy elements along with incredible concentration of fruit, without heaviness or overt sweetness. This vintage has a thrill of energy to go with its fruit density with opulent and vinous layers of black raspberry, Italian cherry, wild plum, loamy mulberry and brambly huckleberry fruits along with perfectly judged wood accents, anise, sage, briar and incense. Morgan Twain-Peterson MW, winemaker and owner of Bedrock, uses only grapes that come from the original 1888 plantings at his Bedrock Vineyard, for this spectacular California wine from the heart the heart of the Sonoma Valley. This historic vineyard is set on well drained rocky soils in a climate that sees lots of sunshine and heat in the Summer, but that cools down dramatically at night with the valley pulling in cool air from the west and the Pacific as well as afternoon breezes. The Bedrock Vineyard includes a high percentage of Zinfandel, but there are dozens of other varietals interplanted here, including Mataro, Grenache, Petite Sirah and other rare old grapes, like Alicante Boushet and Carignan, all of which add to the complexity, balance, a touch of savoriness and very age worthy substance here. As reference points, I tend to try to compare and relate this wine to others in its class, but sometimes, in a vintage like this, that proves harder than you’d imagine, leaving me to just say this is one of California’s best wines with, as I’ve said before, a bounty of pleasure in the glass.
Bedrock Wine Co. was started in 2007, as mentioned here in my prior reviews, by winemaker and Master of Wine Morgan Twain-Peterson, son of the legendary Zin maker Joel Peterson of Ravenswood fame, and his partner Chris Cottrell, who also has his Under the Wire label, featuring unique sparkling wines. The winemaking here at Bedrock remains faithful to their beliefs, made with simple low intervention traditional methods that showcase the vineyards first and foremost with Morgan Twain-Peterson MW saying “overly sculpted by activist winemakers tend to be less satisfying and soulful gustatory experiences..” Of which I totally agree and is a reason why that this winery has been elevated to the top echelon of California wine and Bedrock is one of my favorites, especially these Heritage Reds. The latest releases from Bedrock are exceptional and have a sense of lightness and grace, traits not always found in Zinfandel based wines with this one and the Evangelho Vineyard Hermitage Red, also a site owned and farmed by Twain-Peterson, always being favorites in the collection, The Bedrock reds are produced in most cases with natural un-inoculated fermentation(s), native malo-lactic, and with the use of whole clusters in fermentation, the wine is left to do its thing with gentle attention along the way without additions. They take great care to use the best aging vessels as possible, preferring only to use quality oak in the aging process, using barriques and larger casks when the wine demands it. Really, Bedrock focuses on the individual vineyard and what it needs in each vintage, saying at the core of all of their wines is allowing these sites and grapes a stage to show ideal ripeness and individual personalities, which is very in evidence in this classic Bedrock Heritage. The extra pop, lively character and length of this 2021 really makes it a standout and I would bet it will be a 20 year plus wine!
($45 Est.) 97 Points, grapelive