2019 Forgotten Vines Zinfandel Old Vines Sonoma County 750 ml

“When they come to this place, we want to give them something they cannot experience anywhere else.”

Our friend Jean-Charles Boisset was waxing poetic about his hospitality philosophy. He was a Burgundy star before he embraced Napa with the zeal of a convert: Now he lives in Robert Mondavi’s custom-built former home. He brought Napa Cabernet icon Raymond back to glory, and now runs the landmark 140-year-old Oakville Grocery, turning the Victorian next door into a museum celebrating Napa Valley’s pioneers. 

The Grocery sits right next to To Kalon, practically in the lap of Opus One, and Jean-Charles insisted on creating exclusive wines to pour there: bottles that reflect the history and grandeur of the location. “We want to give them something they’ll never forget,” he explained.

Jean-Charles named the Forgotten Vines Zin in homage to Sonoma’s oldest vineyards, which were forgotten during Prohibition and the wine-industry downturn that followed. As a result, this boasts some seriously old-vine sourcing—gnarled, stout-trunked monsters, some of whom date back nearly a century. The berries they produce are tiny and thick-skinned, perfect for the ultra-bold, plush bottlings that our members (and JCB) adore.

Once the grapes are harvested and the skins given a fermentation regime that emphasizes pulling every ounce of fruit flavor out of the berries, the wine is racked into old-school American oak barrels. It’s an aging program that will be familiar to lovers of Ridge’s wines, and this, too, sees a full 18 months in barrel for a final polish plus the mocha and vanilla overlay that it imparts onto the wine.