Vineyard Notes:212 was a year that started off with a very dry spring, producingearly water deficit stress on the vines and was followed by one ofthe most mild and cool summer months in Lodi in decades. In fact,June, July and August were cooler than September, October andNovember. Because of this, we had exceptionally long hang timefor the fruit, giving it the chance to develop layers of flavors.Combine that with the low yield of our 12-year-old Zinfandelvines, and you can see why we were so excited by the intensity ofthe fruit. Plus, with 75 acres of what is the largest single block ofhead trained, natural rooted Zinfandel in the country, we had theopportunity to truly hand select the cream of the crop, makingseveral passes through the block during the optimal ripenesswindow in late October of 212. This ensured the fruit going inremained true to form for our flagship wine.Winemaker Notes:After hand-picking into half ton bins for the most delicatetransporting of the fruit, the grapes were lightly crushed into thetank for fermentation. Fermented on the skins to dryness, it wasthen pressed and placed in French and American oak barrels, ofwhich 15% was new wood. Aging in this way, it was important tomaintain and uplift all of the fruit components while using the oakto support each flavor to its fullest. After bottling, it was allowedfurther aging time to micro-mingle its flavors so each bottle is afull expression of the monarch of Lodi wines The ImmortalOld Vine Zinfandel.Tasting Notes:The color of this wine is truly Immortal. Its rich dark color goes onand on and on. The deceptively subtle aromas of this winecombine red current, raspberries, red cherries, with earthy cedarmarrying together to put your olfactory senses into a newdimension. In the mouth, the palate is wrapped in a mysterious,velvety layered mix of raspberry cordial, sweet mouth filling redfruit, blackberry and red current, leading to a lengthy rich mouthfilling almost breathless finish. This is a wine for great food,friends and conversation, or an intimate meal for two by aflickering fire. Whichever your pleasure, our Immortal OldVine Zinfandel will make it memorable.