2021 Bedrock Wine Co, Old Vine Zinfandel, California.
As per normal, this 2021 vintage Old Vine Zin from Bedrock really hits the spot with its deep purple/garnet color, dark fruit density, a dusting of spices and a satiny full body this wine is always eager to please. Coming from a wide collection of old vine sites throughout California, including Sonoma and Contra Costa counties, again sourced from vines ranging over 80 years old, with some well past a century, so you really taste and see California wine history in the glass with a hedonistic reward. Hats off to Morgan Twain-Peterson MW and his team for the excellent quality throughout the range here at Bedrock and these 2021s are exceptional offerings, especially his Heritage Old Vine Zins, but for outstanding value, this bottling is one of California’s greatest bargains. A bit less ripe and with a nice almost cool tone, this 2021 shows off classic layers of crushed black raspberries, Italian cherries, plums and currants, which is accented by classic bramble and briar spices, sweet cedary sandalwood, minty herbs and beautiful dark florals with a vibrant kiss of acidity and a hint of shaved vanilla. The Old Vine Zinfandel again includes a who’s who of top Zin sites with Teldeschi Ranch, Beeson, Sodini, Nervo, Dommen, Pagani, Papera, Evangelho, Pato, Katushas’ and of course Bedrock all playing roles here. I can say without a doubt, if I want to enjoy a soulful and pleasing California Zinfandel based wine, this and Ridge’s Lytton Springs are two of my favorites and ones I personally like to have around as much as possible. This no pretense offering can be enjoyed with a hearty range of foods, but is also just a really good sipper with friends and family, when you might not want to get into a more serious indulgence. While the flagship, old vine Bedrock Vineyard, Sonoma Valley Heritage Red, continues to be magic and it’s hard to imagine a better poster child for Californian wine, this one is an easy to like pure Californian red in the same mold as a Côtes du Rhône Village.
Bedrock Wine Co., as noted here, is run by Morgan Twain-Peterson, who’s family has a significant history making Zinfandel in California, with his dad Joel Peterson, famous for crafting some of the best Zins of the 1980s and 1990s under his ex Ravenswood label, with Morgan carrying on the traditions, but with the added responsibility of caring for two of the state’s most prized old vine Heritage vineyards, their namesake Bedrock, in the Sonoma Valley and Evangelho in the deep sands of Contra Costa County. In the winemaking, Bedrock’s main mission is to keep things simple and let the grapes do the talking, with Morgan saying that they try to use native yeast and natural fermentation(s) without additions, similar to how Ridge and Turley do their Zinfandel based wines, with the Zinfandel lots being made with almost entirely de-stemmed grapes, even though the winery embraces whole-cluster fermentation in their other varietals. Bedrock ultimately for their wines, focus on ideal ripeness, freshness and aromatics in their offerings and age their wines in top notch oak. Bedrock’s most prized wines are field blends which include many black grapes, but with this Old Vine Zinfandel there is a more single varietal style than their other efforts, with the finished blend being about 85% Zinfandel, plus 7% Carignan, 4% Cinsault and, as Twain-Peterson notes, there is also, bits and bobs of Grand Noir, Petite Sirah, Alicante Bouschet and other field-blended varieties. With this entry level wine, Morgan and Bedrock Wine Co. wants to express generosity and release a wine that can be enjoyed in its youth, as this 2021, as usual does it all very nicely and it should age for another decade too, and I can’t wait to try the 2023! In recent years, as I did deeper and deeper into Bedrock’s collection, a few under the radar bottlings have also stood out, and I’ll mention that I recommend you explore the whole range, but the Beeson Zin and Evangelho wines are right up my alley!
($25 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive