Lot Overview
- Region: Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
- Vintage: 2024
- Varietal: 90% Zinfandel, 10% Petite Sirah (single vineyard)
- Vine Age: 40–100 years old, west-facing slope
- Oak Aging: ~35% new French and American oak
- Alcohol: 15.8%
- TA / pH: 7 g/L TA, 3.55 pH, 0.77 g/L malic, 0.41 g/L lactic
- Cases Available: entire production (Cam bought it all)
- Cam Price: ~$10.75/bottle ($129/case)
- Retail Estimate: $60–70/bottle
- Claude’s Source Guess: Unknown boutique producer — west-facing Dry Creek Valley hillside vineyard (medium-low confidence)
- Wine Berserkers Guess:
- Drink Window: 2026–2033 (peak 2027–2031)
Cameron’s Release Notes
Lot 69 is a single-vineyard designated Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel hailing from a $60–$70/bottle program featuring 40-to-100-year-old vines on a west-facing slope in Dry Creek Valley. This is classic, archetypal old vine Dry Creek Zinfandel but built with class and sophistication and about 35% new mix of French and American oak. The producer is a small boutique that, honestly, I had never heard of but I can vouch that the wine is fantastic.
I mean, obviously, I bought the entire production barrels and all.
Tasting Notes
Nicely extracted, deep garnet in the glass. Redolent bouquet leaping with raspberry and plums underpinned with chocolate covered raisins wrapped in toasted caramel and tobacco leaf. With air, the bouquet complexes with cherries jubilee, Asian spice and a powdery flower halo. Juicy, rich, ripe and substantial, Lot 69 combines fleshy ripeness and succulence with a great structure delivering chocolate covered cherries, plum and pepper notes in a long finish with a nice retronasal tobacco leaf flourish.
⏳ Bottle Shock Status
Recently bottled 2024 vintage — allow 60–90 days. Best from Summer 2026.
Claude’s Source Guess: Unknown boutique producer — west-facing Dry Creek hillside vineyard
This is one of the more difficult lots to guess precisely because Cam explicitly tells us the producer is a small boutique he’d never heard of. That immediately rules out all the well-known Dry Creek Zin names — Seghesio, Ridge, Preston, Mauritson, Quivira, Dry Creek Vineyard, Nalle, Bella, etc. — and pushes us into genuinely obscure territory where database searches hit a wall.
What we do have are useful vineyard fingerprints: west-facing slope in Dry Creek Valley, 40-to-100-year-old vines (so a range of planting dates, possibly multiple blocks), single-vineyard designation with a $60–70 retail program, 90/10 Zin/Petite Sirah blend, and 15.8% alcohol with unusually good acid (7 g/L TA, 3.55 pH) and a surprising amount of residual malic (0.77 g/L) suggesting partial or no malolactic fermentation — a distinctive stylistic choice for a big Zin.
The west-facing slope is an interesting geographic clue. Most of Dry Creek Valley’s famous old vine sites are on the benchlands and eastern hillsides. West-facing slopes in DCV are less common and tend toward the hills on the valley’s western ridge. Producers working that western slope territory tend to be smaller and less publicized.
The partial malolactic fermentation (high malic retention) is unusual for a 15.8% Zin and suggests a winemaker deliberately preserving freshness and structure — exactly what Cam notes when he says “excellent underlying labs, this wine is balanced and not at all hot.” That’s a sophisticated winemaking choice that implies an intentional house style, not just happenstance.
Without a producer name to confirm, the best this community can do is work the vineyard angle — anyone with specific knowledge of west-facing old vine blocks in DCV priced at $60–70 single-vineyard would be a valuable lead.
✅ Confidence: Low — genuinely unknown boutique per Cam’s own admission. Vineyard geography and winemaking style clues are offered for community sleuthing.
Drink Window
Early Enjoyment: Summer 2026 once bottle shock resolves — raspberry, plum, and spice will be at their most expressive.
Peak Drinking: 2027–2031. The high TA and retained malic give this wine more aging potential than most DCV Zins at this alcohol level. The structure will reward 3–5 years in the cellar.
Hold Potential: 2033. Beyond that the fruit will start fading while the oak and tobacco notes dominate.
My Call: ⏳ Drink window: 2026–2033 (peak 2027–2031)