2021 Puccioni, Old Vine Zinfandel, Puccioni Ranch, Dry Creek Valley AVA, Sonoma County.
I was thrilled by the latest release of Old Vine Zinfandel from winemaker Glenn Proctor at Puccioni Vineyards, a tiny estate producer based in the Dry Creek Valley, with its dark fruited full bodied mouth feel, the vintage’s cooler tones, floral aromatics and supple tannins providing wonderful drinking pleasure, along with subtle cedary oak, grilled herbs and a dusting of brambly spices. For Zin fans, I highly recommend discovering this vintage and this wine with its layers of black raspberry, plum, candied cherry and currant fruits, smooth texture and a nice cut of acidity keeping things clearly detailed and well balanced. As it opens it gets better and better with pretty seeped flowers, faint vanilla, anise and a light sense of savoriness, mineral and briar notes, finishing with good length and lingering framboise. Heady and ripe at 14.9% natural alcohol, this opulent wine never feels flabby or hot and it was brilliant with food, it was tasty with a range of flavors, and I think it especially will be great with BBQ and or roasts, which is perfect for the season. Just 150 cases were made of the traditionally fermented and aged Puccioni Old Vine Zinfandel with de-stemmed grapes that were carefully sorted and cold macerated to extract the dark inky color with the wine seeing about a year in mostly used oak with a small percentage of new barrels giving the wine a touch of sweet toastiness.
As a big fan of the Dry Creek Valley, I was grateful that Glenn reached out to me, as I’d not heard of Puccioni Vineyards before and I’m very excited with the quality of his Zinfandel and I look forward to trying his Petite Sirah soon, its definitely a winery to follow. Fourth generation winegrower Glenn Proctor says Puccioni Vineyards, one of the original family vineyards in Dry Creek, not far from Healdsburg, is committed to sustainable farming and hand crafting small lots of Zinfandel and Petite Sirah. Proctor’s great grandfather came from Italy in the late 1800s and founded the Puccioni Ranch in the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma County in 1904, employing the traditions of the old world and planting Zinfandel on his hillside property. The Puccioni wines are made using their all estate grown grapes coming from their 100-year-old plus vines and made to show off the distinctive terroir and allow some of the rustic charm and character to shine through, with this 2021 perfectly capturing the year and place in the bottle. Proctor himself sports an impressive resume, he attended C.S.U. Fresno for his Bachelors in Viticulture and then U.C. Davis for his Master’s Degree in Viticulture, he went on to work at Glen Ellen Winery and Benziger Family Winery in the late 80’s, before going on to Napa’s famous BV and Sterling, where he became Vice President of Winegrowing. The wines here are well priced for the price and structured to reward some cellaring as well, with the Zinfandel looking to reward some patience here, though no waiting is necessary, enjoy this delicious 2021 over the next 5 to 7 years.
($38 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive