🏷️ Lot Overview
🏷️ Lot Overview
Region: Dry Creek Valley
Vintage: 2023
Blend: Predominantly Old Vine Zinfandel (50+ years old) with potential Petite Sirah blend (TBD)
ChatGPT Original Source Guess: Unknown — small, independent Dry Creek producer using a high-end custom crush facility; stylistically closest to Rafanelli or Dry Creek Vineyard
Wine Berserkers Guess:
Alcohol: ~14.8%
Oak Aging: ~50% new American
Cam Price: $12.42 ($149/case)
Retail Estimate: $50–$60 (typical OVZ from top DCV sites)
Drink Window: Late 2025–2032
🍷 Cameron’s Release Notes
Eureka! After kissing a lot of frogs looking for great Zin, Cam landed a tiny set of barrels of old-vine Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel made at a custom-crush facility. The wine likely comes from a successful Bay Area tech owner’s estate vines (small, hands-on operation); exact winery name unknown, but the juice is the real deal: first-run, beautifully made, and classic DCV in style. Only a few barrels existed, so quantities are very limited. Cam doesn’t know what the owner typically charges, but he’s offering it at $149/case delivered—an absolute steal for old-vine Dry Creek Zin.
Tasting Notes
Classic, brambly old-vine bouquet: briary blackberry, boysenberry, black raspberry, peppery spice, and wild herbs, with a savory undercurrent that keeps things vibrant as the fruit turns sumptuous in the glass. Plush, juicy entry; medium-plus body; great energy from spice and acidity riding through a long, fruit-soaked finish.
Final blend TBD (there’s a touch of Petite Sirah resting in barrel and Cam may fold in “a couple points”), but the profile above won’t change.
~50% new American oak
Alc ~14.8%
Projected production: ~80–90 cases
Bottling: projected late November (exact date TBD)
🧠ChatGPT says:
🔍 Source Guess: TBD (not enough data to identify the producer)
🎯 Rationale:
- Custom-crush context: Cam says the wine was made at a facility with multiple small clients; the “owner-winemaker” scenario is common in DCV. That makes a single named winery much harder to pin.
- Style + oak: Old-vine DCV Zinfandel with ~50% new American oak is classic for the area, but many top micro-producers use a similar regimen.
- Data gaps: No vineyard name, block, house oak coopers, or prior label pricing—so any specific call would be guessy. Once we see coopers, exact bottling date, or vineyard age/site, we can narrow it quickly.
⏳ Drink Window
Early Enjoyment:
Once bottle shock clears after the late-November bottling, this will be ready by late winter/early spring 2026. If you open sooner, give it a 1–2 hour decant.
Peak Drinking:
2026–2030. That’s when the brambly fruit, peppery spice, and American-oak sweetness knit into that classic, plush DCV groove.
Hold Potential:
Well-made old-vine Zin with a pinch of Petite Sirah can cruise to ~2032. Expect more dried-berry, cocoa, and savory spice tones with time.
My Call:
⏳ Drink window (post-shock): Late 2025–2032 (peak 2026–2030).