Cline Cellars Ancient Vines Zinfandel
£22.95
Ancient Vines Zinfandel shows spicy, bright strawberry, coffee, and chocolate characters. Ripe fruit and soft tannins make this a mouth-coating rich vintage. Aging on new and used oak has lent this wine a strong vanilla quality that nicely complements the rich, forward old vine fruit. Grapes were harvested from a wide selection of Clines oldest, most historic, and shyest-bearing Zinfandel blocks in Contra Costa County. These 100-year-old, dry-farmed vineyards consistently produce fruit of stunning concentration. Lots were harvested separately according to ripeness and balance of acidity. Fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks to extract rich flavours and provide excellent colour. The wine was then aged in American oak (38% new) for 10 months.
Ideal with rich beef stews and creamy poultry dishes.
Meet the Producer Cline Cellars is a family-owned vineyard and winery in Sonoma’s Carneros Valley. Established in 1982 by Fred Cline, a descendant of Italian US settlers, he originally founded the winery in Oakley, Contra Costa County, cultivating Rhône varieties and Zinfandel on vines dating back to 1906. In the 1990s, the family moved their winemaking operation to a 350-acre ranch in Carneros Valley, adopting sustainable farming in 2000, and building the largest solar panelled winery in California. While others in California were focusing on Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, Fred Cline saw the potential of Rhône varieties and Zinfandel in his vineyards and continues to produce focussed, terroir-driven wines. Sustainability Cline is proud to be a Certified California Sustainable Vineyard and Winery. In 2005, Cline was one of the first wineries to fully adopt solar energy. In 2018 it upgraded the original array with the latest technology, designed to offset 100% of its winery’s electrical consumption.