2016 Three Wine Company Old Vines Field Blend 750 ml

2,384 four- and five-star ratings ancient-vine red isn’t something we see often—or really ever—save for Matt’s iconic old vine bottlings. If you haven’t had a chance to stock up on this all-time Wine Access favorite before, today’s your shot.

The wine has also drawn these client raves: “Matt Cline makes me a believer!” “Went too quickly!” and “Best bang for your buck.” 

Matt’s Old Vine Field Blend is one of the last of its kind in California. Deep ruby to the rim, it bursts with piercing, high-toned aromas of boysenberry, raspberry, and exotic spices. Zinfandel, Carignane, Petite Sirah, Mourvèdre, and Alicante Bouschet from heritage vineyards planted by first-generation Italians make for a truly opulent wine with a massive attack, in a red that proudly struts its century-old-vine pedigree. 

Now, for the story: 

Fields once covered Contra Costa County, an area today known better for San Francisco’s suburban sprawl. Between the high rises and strip malls, Matt Cline has been working tirelessly to maintain the vineyards that offer a window to the Contra Costa of yore.

In these vineyards, there’s no dirt, no gravel, no galets roulés. Everything is sand. There are no trellises, rosebushes, or mansion-like tasting rooms. 

Huge, gnarled vines the size of small trees reach up from the sand, craning skyward in shapes that defy modern viticulture, and would make most Napa vineyard managers cringe. Between what passes for rows, the vines are marked Spanish Mataró, Carignan, Zinfandel, and Malvasia Nero—planted not in blocks devoted to variety but helter-skelter in the traditional “field blend” style pioneered by early farmers across Europe. 

Hauled down in buggies from the old Buena Vista Winery to Contra Costa 100-125 years ago, each vine was planted from a six-inch stick, called budwood, hand-twisted into the Delhi sand by Portuguese and Italian immigrant families. The family names were Spinelli, Lucchesi, Evangelho, and Jacuzzi. 
 
It would be almost 100 years before a young Matt Cline, the grandson of Valeriano Jacuzzi, would walk us through the tree-like vines describing their lives, and how each still ekes out a few clusters every year, the tiny berries packed with dense red-fruit concentration.

Today, Cline’s Three Wine Co. Old Vines Field blend is a transportive taste of the past, bursting with ripe fruit and exotic, spice-driven complexity. In an era where machine-made wines often dominate the value sector, nothing tastes better than Matt Cline’s handmade heritage bottles.