2022 Bedrock Wine Company, Bedrock Vineyard, Heritage Red Wine, Sonoma Valley.
A bit more expressive, riper and concentrated than the 2021, but still showing a heightened level of finesse, which is notable considering the warmer vintage and there’s a lot to admire here in this dark purple and luxuriously layered 2022 Bedrock Vineyard Heritage Zinfandel Blend, and one of California’s most cherished and historic vines in the Sonoma Valley. This bottling by Bedrock is really a must have for California wine enthusiasts and this year’s release has loads of pleasure and potential, joining wines like Ridge’s Lytton Springs, Turley’s Old Vine Zin and Biale’s Black Chicken, to name a few, that show off Zinfandel’s best qualities. This 2022 is hedonistic and deep with black raspberry, sweet plum, blueberry compote and candied cherry fruits, along with snappy herbs, brambly spices, black licorice and lovely dark florals, plus a subtle toasty oak note, a touch of loamy earth and an underlying velvety tannin structure, making this a joy in the glass, but with a seriousness that ops it up a level. 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.
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, which are well worth searching out too. 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, again seen here in the 2022 version, showing just how special this site is! It was great to catch up with Bedrock’s Chris Cottrell recently and taste through the latest releases, all of which are brilliant efforts, especially this one and the under the radar Pato Vineyard Zin, don’t miss them.
($45 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive