2020 Paydirt Going For Broke Red Wine California 750 ml

“Headed your way. Blue shorts, gray tee-shirt. Not my winemaker uniform!”

Duckhorn alum and Coup de Foudre winemaker Kent Jarman gave us the heads-up before we met up at Napa’s Oxbow Public Market, but there was no way we were going to miss him—especially carrying the hedonistic Paydirt Going for Broke Red Wine. 

A brooding yet lively mix of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Syrah, Grenache, Cabernet, the 2020 was sourced from some of the same vineyards behind icons such as Ridge, Turley, and The Prisoner. That means it’s cut from the same cloth as some of the most legendary bottles in California. 

The co-owner at Paydirt is Patrick McNeil, the California wine-business veteran whose great-great-grandfather struck gold in 1848. McNeil has been crafting some of California’s most sought-after reds for over a decade. Pair him up with Jarman, whose talents are normally reserved for his triple-digit-priced Cabernets from Domaine Curry and Kenefick Ranch, and you’ve got a team with a red-wine Midas touch.

Two of the main sources of the powerful Going for Broke blend are the Paper Street and J. Dusi Vineyards in Paso Robles. Planted and farmed by the Dusi family (who’ve grown the Dusi Zinfandel for Ridge and Turley for decades), the star sites supply the family’s own wines and have also been tapped by Austin Hope and McPrice Myers. 

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. Primitivo, Petite Sirah, Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Cabernet Sauvignon pepper the remainder of this blend with spicy allure.