Finding Old-Vine Wines
The following is a list of readily available wines made from old-growth vineyards located in Sonoma County. Each wine states on its label or in accompanying notes that the grapes used to produce the wine come from old plantings or, in the case of Ravenswood, are from well-known older vineyards. Note that there is to date no legal definition of “old vines” (Sebastiani calls any vineyard older than 30 years “old”), but generally, 50 or 60 years is considered to be the youngest of the old plantings.
The list is not meant to be comprehensive, and many other non-vineyard-designated or blended wines contain juice from older vines.
All these wines are fairly easily found in better Sonoma County and Bay Area wine shops. Prices listed are averages.
Zinfandel:
Belvedere NV Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel ($10)
Château Souverain 1993 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel ($9.75)
Deux Amis 1993 Sonoma County Zinfandel ($13)
Dry Creek 1993 Sonoma County Zinfandel, Old Vines ($14)
Kunde Estate 1993 Sonoma Valley Shaw Vineyard Century Vine Zinfandel
Marietta 1993 Sonoma County Zinfandel ($12)
Pellegrini 1993 Sonoma County Zinfandel, Old Vines ($7.25)
Preston 1994 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel, Old Vines, Old Clones ($11)
Rabbit Ridge 1994 Sonoma County Zinfandel “Old Vines” ($11.75)
Ravenswood 1993 Old Hill Vineyard Zinfandel ($18)
Ravenswood 1993 Wood Road Belloni Zinfandel ($20.50)
Ravenswood 1993 Monte Rosso Zinfandel ($19.50)
Rosenblum 1993 Sonoma Valley Zinfandel, Samsel Vineyard–Maggie’s Reserve ($22)
Sebastiani 1994 Old Vines Zinfandel
Sonora 1993 Sonoma County Zinfandel, Old Vines ($10)
Rodney Strong 1993 Northern Sonoma Old Vines Zinfandel ($11)
Valley of the Moon 1993 Sonoma Valley Old Vine Reserve Zinfandel ($15)
Other Wines:
Côtes du Rosa 1994 Russian River Valley Red Table Wine ($12)
Crane Canyon Cellars 1993 Sonoma Valley Mourvedre
Meadow Glen NV California Old Vine Claret ($4.75)
Marietta 1993 California Syrah
Pellegrini 1994 Sonoma Valley Barbera, Old Vines ($10)
Rabbit Ridge 1992 Sonoma County Carignane, Westside Road Reserve, Hedin Vineyard Old Vines ($9.25)
Sebastiani 1992 Cherryblock Old Vines Cabernet Sauvignon
Sebastiani 1993 Mourvedre
Seghesio 1993 Alexander Valley Sangiovese ($14.95)
Seghesio Heritage Sonoma County Sonoma Red ($4)
From the Feb. 28-Mar. 6, 1996 issue of the Sonoma Independent
This page was designed and created by the Boulevards team.
© 1996 Metro Publishing and Virtual Valley, Inc.
