The 2012 Ravenswood Barricia Vineyard Zinfandel is a weighty wine with good texture. Black fruit and dark spice are matched with good acidity. Drink between now and 10—15 years.

Vineyard Notes

In 1978, Barbara Olesen and Patricia Herron bought an old, low-production 36-acre vineyard in the heart of Sonoma Valley with old, volcanic, cobbly red clay loam soil — a piece of property that in the 1840’s, General Mariano Vallejo had traded to his children’s music teacher in exchange for piano lessons. They christened it with a combination of their own names, calling this piece of land Barricia.

Before long, the blackberry and pepper-spiced wine made from their 100-year-old vines was singled out by a string of well-known Sonoma wineries, finally settling at Ravenswood for its emblematic Sonoma Valley Zinfandel.

The ancient vines have low crop levels and minimal vine vigor, leading to thick-skinned grapes that provide the perfect balance between fruit and structure.