Zinfandel Dessert Wine
375mL

Wanting to select one of our best quality vineyards to use in this dessert wine endeavor, we quickly chose the Zinfandel vineyard of Mike Phillips on Woodbridge Road. In 2006 this vineyard was split into two sections. About one half was destined to become Earthquake Zin and we had therefore reduced the crop severely. 3.6 tons of that Earthquake-quality fruit was left out in the vineyard to hang for an extended time until harvested at 30.7˚ Brix. The grapes were brought into the winery, destemmed and crushed into small bins for fermentation.

Making a Port-style wine with the perfect amount of left-over sugar and the optimal amount of alcohol meant we had to stay up all night babysitting the fermenting grapes. When the timing was right, we added 165 proof grape Brandy to stop fermentation just where we wanted it. The grapes and the Brandy were left in contact for an additional 2 days extracting more color and tannin to build aromas which are a bit more rustic and complex in style. They were then pressed into older neutral barrels for several years of aging to lend a silky smoothness to the wine.

With restrictions on the use of “Port” for wines produced outside of Portugal, we found ourselves in search of a name for our New World Port-style wine. So we played with the letters P-O-R-T W-I-N-E and came up with “Pin Tower”. Bet you can’t guess what “1584-6237” on the label means.