2020 Orin Swift 8 Years in the Desert Red Wine California 750 ml

No one else in the world does explosive, high-octane, mega-star reds with the maximalist genius of Dave Phinney. The author of The Prisoner, one of Napa’s most iconic bottlings, he’s the man with the “Midas touch,” in the words of Robert Parker, who’s raved over Dave’s “unparalleled blending talents.”

Zinfandel put Phinney on the map, and the 2020 Orin Swift 8 Years in the Desert Red Wine shows he’s still the reigning champ when it comes to wringing every ounce of spicy fruit and fantastic concentration from the grape.

As a friend of Wine Access, Dave’s offered us generous access to this latest blockbuster. He’s to California wine what Michael Bay is to Hollywood: the crowd-pleasing, mad king of over-the-top kinetic energy and explosive power that tests the limits of plausibility. The main difference is that Phinney is also beloved by the critics—we’ve lost count of the number of wines he’s landed on the Wine Spectator Top 100 over the last dozen years.

Yet the early years of his career were mired in desperation. In 2000, his third difficult vintage in a row of trying to get off the ground, he threw all the wine together he’d managed to make and called it The Prisoner. Most of it was Zinfandel, and the blend went on to become an industry-changing classic.

When he sold the brand, he agreed not to make Zinfandel for eight years. This label, now in its fifth vintage, celebrates his return from exile. Voluptuously accented with Petite Sirah and Syrah, the 2020 was aged eight months in French and American oak, 51% of it new. Nothing less would be able to contain this beast, a new member-favorite.