2014 Seghesio Family Vineyards Heritage Red Pagani Heritage Grower Series Sonoma Valley 750 ml

Zin a Century-Plus In the Making

Our access to Seghesio’s cellar is your direct line into some of the most delicious and historic Zin in the world. Derived from the impeccably pedigreed, century-old Pagani Ranch Vineyard in Sonoma Valley, the 2014 Seghesio Pagani Ranch Zin has spent the last four years resting in the winery’s cool, dark cellars, and now we bring it to you. 

With a concentrated intensity in the mouth owed to the age of the vines, this is a shining example of what old-vine Zinfandel from a top producer can evolve into in a few years: A super-silky seamless gem that shows beautiful crushed raspberry and vibrant red cherry on the nose, a generous fruit-laden palate, and black tea, red floral, and savory herb notes. This time of year, with ribs or a burger, there’s positively nothing better than a silky old vine Zin. And you’re not going to find a more generous and affordable example than today’s 2014 Seghesio Pagani Ranch. 

Pagani Ranch Vineyard is a 125-year-old legend, whose grapes have been prized by some of the top Zinfandel producers in California. Just take a look at the bar-setting wineries that consistently make magic with stellar Pagani fruit: There’s Ridge, of course, plus Carlisle, Robert Biale, and old-vine aficionado Morgan Twain-Peterson’s Bedrock label. 

The vines were planted by Felice Pagani not long after he purchased the Wildwood Dairy Farm in the 1880s. Now by the fourth generation of Paganis, this bucolic 30-acre vineyard nestled in the rolling hills along Sonoma’s Highway 12 is a picture of California viticultural heritage.

Take one look at Pagani, and there’s no doubt you’re seeing something special. Unlike the vineyards that might have a block or two of ancient vines among younger plantings, Pagani is like a viticultural time warp: At this point, the youngest vines on the property are over 100 years old! That means a vineyard that, as far as you can see, is studded with vines as gnarled as bristlecone pines. 

Of course, old vines aren’t just for show. Because as they age, the vines produce less and less fruit, which means all that trademark Zinfandel flavor of red berries, fruit leather, and spice gets crowded into fewer and fewer grapes as the years go on—and Pagani’s vines pack the kind of concentration that can only be achieved by ancient vines.