Palate
Bridgehead Zinfandel is perpetually the most refined and elegant of the Single Vineyard Zinfandels that we produce. Our 2016 Bridgehead Zinfandel has notes of spices and wonderful strawberry. The wine has a fine-grained structure that creates balanced acids and tannins with nuances of both chocolate and toasty vanilla. This wine will age beautifully over the next 5 to 7 years. Its claret-like style and intriguingly complex earthy-berry character make this one of our most distinct and treasured Zinfandels.
Growing Conditions
Our Bridgehead vineyard is named for Bridgehead Road in Oakley, California, to which it runs adjacent. This vineyard consistently produces one of our most individual and refined lots of Zinfandel. Planted by Italian immigrants well before the turn of the century, the vines are head-trained, dry-farmed in sandy soil and engulfed in a unique band of cooling air from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers this produces a stunning, concentrated harvest.
Harvest
August 25
Winemaking
The grapes from Bridgehead Vineyard were harvested at the ideal sugar levels and treated gently in the cellar to emphasize the explosive fruit characteristic. The fruit was destemmed and lightly crushed, with a large proportion of whole berries remaining in the must. Fermentation occurred at moderate temperatures in stainless steel tanks, using native yeast. After 10 days of gentle "pump-overs" and near dryness, we drained and pressed the wine from its skins.
Aging
The Bridgehead Zinfandel was minimally handled before aging for 12 months in a combination of new and used medium toasted French oak before bottling.
