2015 Sky Zinfandel

Sky has been making estate-grown dry-farmed Zinfandel in a structured, elegant, classic style since 1972. They say Pinot Noir is the heartbreak grape; well, ask anyone who grows Zinfandel, and they might tell you otherwise. Notoriously fickle on the vine with wildly uneven ripening in the bunch―it’s normal to see hard, green grapes and shrivelled raisins side by side―many growers can lose up to 80% of the crop depending on the year. Sky is well placed to succeed where many others don’t. Their location on the southern part of the Mayacamas Mountains means they enjoy cool, windy conditions but see less influence from the fog. This mitigates the disease risk and facilitates organic farming. The site faces east, basking in the morning sun while getting shelter from the harsh afternoon heat. The large fluctuations in temperature give a wide diurnal range, essential for the slow ripening that this style of Zinfandel needs to thrive. Finally, the deep volcanic soils of the Sky site give Zinfandel a unique voice; old, dry-farmed, deep-rooted vines usually have an interesting story to tell. Such is the case here. A small portion of fruit from the original 1972 block is included in the blend (just 0.5 acres remain after the 2017 fires), but the lion’s share is from vines planted in 1999. In 2015, California was in the midst of a five-year drought, so berries and clusters were small in this low-yielding year. The fruit was handpicked in early September at 13.3 Baumé and fermented in open-top fermenters for 10-14 days with a small portion of whole berries (5 to 10%) and an even smaller portion of whole bunches. The wine was then pressed in the estate’s old (1906) hand-crank press, run each vintage by Lore and his brother with some assistance from the odd glass of Whiskey. The wine then rests in wood for 14-20 months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. Each bottle is matured on site until Lore completes the artwork and the wine is deemed ready for release―there’s no hard and fast rule as to which comes first; Lore has his process! Lore completed the artwork for the 2015 Zinfandel after the devastating fires of 2017. “The piece depicts the winery as an icon of survival, surrounded by flames, but not burning.”