Wine Guerrilla: Defender of Old Vine Zinfandel
Wine Guerilla is a specialist operation run by Bruce Patch, who is intent on sourcing great fruit from some of Sonoma’s best vineyard sites to create wines that are true to their origins and that express the intensity and richness that Zinfandel is famous for.
The wines are made at the Coffaro Winery and benefit from the decades of experience that the winemaking team of David Coffaro, Bruce Patch and Matt Wilson bring to the sorting table. Wine Guerrilla’s style is to try and capture the forward fruit Zinfandel is famous for without obscuring the subtle character that each vineyard contributes.
Drawing on a variety of appellations and sites throughout Sonoma County allows Wine Guerrilla to offer a significant range of styles. In keeping with the traditions of Old Vine Zinfandel production, and in an effort to accentuate some of the trademark characteristics of each site, each wine is blended with varying amounts of other grape varieties.
The Forchini Russian River, for example, gains muscular spice and tannin from the 17% of Petite Sirah in the blend, while the Goat Trek, with 7% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petite Sirah ends up with a more assertive bramble note and just the right balance of tannin.
While the Wine Guerilla wines are aged in oak, to help soften a few sharp edges and allow the wine to integrate, they see very little new oak. In fact the fist new barrels used were introduced with the 2008 vintage and represent a tiny percentage of the total, 8 out of 150 barrels. With so little oak influence these wines have a chance to express their terroir like few others.
2007: A Vintage of Strength and Distinction
2007 was a Zinfandel lovers vintage with brilliant wines coming from much of California, but nowhere were the wines as strong as in Sonoma County. The cooler growing season produced wines with lower alcohol and slightly higher acids than usual. A winning combination.
The Dry Creek Valley is Famous for Zinfandel
One of the greatest sources for old vine Zinfandel in California, Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel is famous for its distinct black fruits and gentle spice tones.
The Russian River Valley, not just great Pinot
With it's extended growing season, the Russian river valley is well known for rich, plush boysenberry fruited Zinfandels. A dollop of Petite Sirah can add some spice and structure helping to support all of that fruit.
Other Wine Guerrilla wines that I recently reviewed.
These are wines that are intended to be enjoyed and shared among friends. All of the wines are finished in screwtops, insuring easy access to the juice in the bottle, whether at home or away The labels are sure to catch the eye, which might be a story in and of itself. In fact they were. There were news storied written about the labels before the wines had even been released!
