2018 Paydirt Going For Broke California Red Wine 750 ml

Patrick McNeil has pioneering blood. He spent his first years at Stags' Leap Winery after his father and Carl Doumani purchased the fabled estate in 1970. His grandfather was a label artist for some of California’s first bonded wineries. And while his great-great-grandfather hit “paydirt” during the California Gold Rush, Patrick quarries mega-successful brands in California’s wine country, including Orin Swift and The Prisoner.

“I had a story to tell, and Patrick knew how to tell it,” Phinney says of Patrick. Today, we've teamed up with this prophet-like proprietor to offer the best price in the nation on his latest project, the 2018 Paydirt Going For Broke California Red Wine. 

When Patrick first conspired with winemaker Dave Phinney to market the Prisoner in the early 2000s, the mixed-block Zinfandel blend sold for $17.99, but now it retails between $37.00 to $50.00++. For the exclusive early adopter price of $19, the juicy Paydirt release shares the concentrated, bramble-fruit forward spirit that made the Prisoner California's best-known red blend. Nearly 20 years later, it’s still rare to find this level of winemaking and this level of fruit for under $20. 

We were stoked to discover the wine, and also insanely curious how Patrick could find the drive to launch another Zin-based passion project on the heels of The Prisoner’s tireless success. His energy boils down not to a Zinfandel mania, but to an obsession with the terroir on which the California wine business was built. 

The last time we hung out with Patrick, he explained with a grin over glasses of the 2018. “After launching The Prisoner and all Orin Swift wines nationally and internationally from 2004 to 2008, the last thing I was going to do was create a multi-varietal Zin blend. And here we are.... This is exactly what ‘Paydirt’ needs to be, and is. It’s like Paydirt found me, all these years later.”

Patrick practically falls out of his seat when he talks about the project. “I want people to feel the same urgent need for discovery that the label speaks to. It’s a feverish pursuit of quality and California roots in a bottle.” Heritage clones from historic sites are embedded into the philosophy of this release, down to the 2% of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes sourced from 180-year-old Pacheco Ranch, the oldest continuously-farmed-by-one-family spot of dirt in the state of California. This 50-year-old vineyard is located in Marin County, where Patrick’s great-great-grandfather invested his gold rush earnings and became one of the county’s original settlers. 

The dominant Zinfandel component (often called the “Gold Rush Grape”) claims its mark with exotic berry pie notes and a deep cherry core from some of the state’s earliest plantings. Old-vine Grenache, Petite Sirah, Syrah, Mourvedre, and Barbera pepper the remainder of this blend with spicy allure. This style explodes with bravado, and will weaken the knees of California red-blend purists (especially when paired with a plate of ribs). 

The Paper Street Vineyard makes up the heart of the blend. Planted and farmed by the Dusi family in Paso Robles, this mountain vineyard is hailed by Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (ZAP) as a “Legendary Zinfandel Vineyard” and is also one of Larry Turley’s favorite lots for his namesake Zinfandels. The rugged terrain and baked earth have a sentiment of the Wild West, relieved by a forgiving Pacific breeze that cools the grapes in Paso Robles' western Willow Creek AVA. The struggling vines squeeze their effort into low-yielding and concentrated berries with vibrant lift and acidity.  

Going for Broke is about the "Art of Discovery" and the hunt for quality sites from the state’s early settlers. Patrick, the ultimate winemaking visionary, uses the history embedded in California’s vines to tell the story of a century and half of winemaking. “Regarding terroir, there is no wine that I am aware of that punctuates the terroir of California more than Paydirt and more than the Paydirt story.” 

Like Patrick McNeil, we’ll place our bets on a style and terroir that has surpassed the test of time and trend. With depth, persistence, and vision, we see Paydirt as the next Prisoner, sold at the price of the cult classic's first release. With a track record that led to stardom and an unbeatable price, the Paydirt Going For Broke California Red is like a liquid goldmine, ready to be discovered.