2007 PETER FRANUS NAPA VALLEY ZINFANDEL

I began the “Peter Franus Napa Valley Zinfandel” label in 2002 to allow me more blending flexibility and to hone down the number of wines in my portfolio. My plan was to reduce confusion and vineyard designation sprawl, while creating a wine with a little more immediate quaffability. In 2005, grapes came from a single vineyard, in 2006 and 2007, three. The goal is to provide a good value, balanced, and delicious wine in a world of Zinfandel that often delivers the opposite.

Terry Wilson and his Rancho Chimiles vineyard are well known for high quality Cabernet Sauvignon that I have worked with since 1996. His Zin vineyard, planted for me in 1997, produced the first crop in 2000, and consistently has resulted in plummy, lush and overtly fruity wines with a modicum of spice. Further north in Chiles Valley, Dalraddy provides a slightly leaner yet spicier version that teams well with Rancho. Add a bit of Grenache and Syrah from Jim Fore’s Red Hills Lake County, and you have arguably the best Napa Zin I have put in the bottle.

There are perhaps a handful of great vineyards that can consistently deliver the complete and impeccably balanced wine. Often, however, a winemaker’s ability to blend components with different aromatic, flavor, and structural profiles can often result in a wine that is more layered, more interesting, and more memorable. A somewhat incomplete wine on its own is magically transformed, as it becomes part of a blend.

You will be hearing often. 2007 is a wonderful vintage. As opposed to 2006, the 2007 growing season got off to an early start, and good ripening conditions throughout the summer resulted in a harvest that started on the earlier side. It was an outstanding year for Zinfandel, and the wines offer lush, ripe, flavors with very supple tannins.

Dark ruby in color, the wine offers an inviting nose of spice, roasted coffee, sweet oak, blackberry, and a hint of cedar. Dark berry flavors introduce an amazingly lush, fresh, bright palate with virtually no edges. Seamless comes to mind. One sip invites another. One glass invites another.

The balance and approachability of this wine have honestly caught me off guard. Wow!