Vineyard Notes: The Walkers have been growing grapes in El Dorado County since the 1930’s. Their 220 acre property, sitting at 2100 ft of elevation, is planted to Zinfandel, Chardonnay, Barbera & Petite Sirah. The  head-trained Zinfandel vines were planted in the 1990’s & are clones of the original plantings from the 30’s, grafted on St George rootstock. The vineyard soil is a coarse loam with lots of sand.

Cellar Notes: Due to the unusually cool growing season in 2022, we still had not harvested the Walker Vineyard Zin when the Mosquito Fire broke out in September, so we hurried to get the grapes into the cellar with the hopes of avoiding any smoke taint. In avoiding that issue, the wine ended up a little on the lighter side. To fill in some gaps, we blended in some other Zinfandels & small amount of Syrah.

Tasting Notes: Despite the need for blending, the final wine turned out to be quite delicious - aromatically delicate with rhubarb, strawberry, bay leaf & white pepper on the nose. The palate is whimsical & refreshing, recalling rhubarb pie, ripe cherries & espresso & tobacco on the finish.

Pair With:  Charcuterie, Pasta with red sauce, & Eggplant parmesan