Lot Overview
- Region: 95% Sonoma Valley/Moon Mountain (2,000 feet elevation, Mayacamas Mountains) + 5% Calistoga
- Vintage: 2024
- Varietal: 89% Zinfandel, 11% Petite Sirah (producer’s 95/5 base + Cam’s Calistoga PS addition)
- Oak Aging: ~40% new French oak
- Alcohol: 14.9%, pH 3.9, TA 5.3 g/L, Malic >0.1 g/L, Lactic 1.33 g/L
- Cases Available: ~200
- Cam Price: ~$10.75/bottle ($129/case)
- Retail Estimate: $60+/bottle
- Claude’s Source Guess: St. Francis Winery — Moon Mountain Zinfandel (Alt: Fredericks Vineyard, multigenerational Moon Mountain grower since 1937)
- Wine Berserkers Guess:
- Drink Window: 2026–2036 (peak 2027–2032)
Cameron’s Release Notes
Lot 89 2024 Sonoma Valley/Moon Mountain Zinfandel, while technically in the Sonoma Valley appellation, is sourced from well-over 50-year-old vines located at 2,000 feet of elevation in the Mayacamas Mountains. The producer of the wine would only sell it as Sonoma Valley, but it is safe to assume the wine is from Moon Mountain AVA. The producer does not name the vineyard anywhere on their website — it seems they go out of their way to protect that source.
I’ve been all over my Vinous vineyard maps of Moon Mountain but can’t seem to pin down the vineyard. I thought at first Hanna Bismarck (which has 2,000-foot elevations) but the vine age doesn’t add up, and Monte Rosso is too low in elevation as, it seems, is Montecillo.
Tasting Notes
Medium ruby/deep garnet in the glass with a deep-yet-bright and boisterous bouquet of brambly berries haloed with black pepper and fresh tobacco leaf and underpinned with notes of cedar and chocolate from seasoned oak. With air, hillside garrigue and purple flowers and vanillin notes complexing the bouquet. Plush, juicy and absolutely sumptuous on entry with a delicious texture delivering ripe black raspberry and cherry notes enveloped in toffee and chocolate. However, there is ample mountain minerality here with a terrific racy structure effortlessly carrying loads of ripe, boisterous fruit without ever crossing over into jammy. Beautifully balanced and rich Zinfandel — Perfection.
⏳ Bottle Shock Status: Allow minimum 60–90 days post-bottling.
Claude’s Source Guess: St. Francis Winery — Moon Mountain/Sonoma Valley Zinfandel (Alt: Fredericks Vineyard)
This is one of the more genuinely difficult identifications in the CAM X catalog — Cam himself says he can’t pin down the vineyard on Vinous maps, which signals a truly obscure or deliberately protected source. The two clues that are most constraining are: (1) 2,000 feet elevation on Moon Mountain, and (2) the producer actively hides the vineyard name on their website. Cam has eliminated Hanna Bismarck (vine age wrong), Monte Rosso (too low), and Montecillo (too low).
St. Francis Winery is the primary candidate. Founded in 1971 by Joe Martin and now under winemaker Chris Louton, St. Francis is one of Sonoma Valley’s most established and respected estates — fitting “legendary winery” without question. Their Moon Mountain District Zinfandel is labeled only as “Sonoma Valley” (or “Moon Mountain District” as a broader designation), and their sourcing from high-elevation Moon Mountain sites is well-documented. Crucially, their tech sheets reference the Montecillo Vineyard source but their main consumer-facing wine pages don’t prominently identify the vineyard — consistent with Cam’s “does not name the vineyard anywhere on their website” observation. The main uncertainty is pricing — St. Francis’s Moon Mountain Zinfandel typically retails at $40-55, somewhat below Cam’s “well over $60+.”
Fredericks is the most intriguing dark horse — a multigenerational farming family that has grown Zinfandel on Moon Mountain since 1937, putting their vines at 87+ years old (well exceeding the 50-year threshold). If the Fredericks family also produces wine under their own label from these ancient 2,000-foot vines, they would qualify as a “legendary” producer in the traditional Sonoma Valley farming sense. Their limited public profile would explain both the unnamed vineyard and Cam’s difficulty locating the site on Vinous maps.
The “legendary winemaker” check is the remaining puzzle — it implies an individual whose name carries independent weight. Among Moon Mountain Zinfandel producers, that qualifier fits Joel Peterson (Once & Future), Morgan Twain-Peterson (Bedrock), or long-tenured winery winemakers like Chris Louton (St. Francis) more than a farming family operation.
✅ Confidence: Low-Medium — genuinely one of the harder identifications in the catalog. St. Francis is the most defensible publicly-documented candidate; Fredericks is a compelling but unconfirmed dark horse. This is an excellent candidate for WB community input from Moon Mountain specialists.
Drink Window
Early: 2026 — allow 60-90 days post-bottling minimum.
Peak: 2027–2032. Old vine Moon Mountain Zinfandel at 14.9% alc peaks 3–8 years from vintage.
Hold: 2036. The mountain structure and vine age support solid medium-long aging.
My Call: ⏳ Drink window: 2026–2036 (peak 2027–2032)