Nose

beguilingly fresh nose of ripe red and black fruits – cherry, wild raspberry and blackberry – supplemented by fragrant notes of mineral, mountain spice and vanilla.

Palate

On the big-bodied, smoothly textured and beautifully balanced palate, juicy black cherry and wild berry flavors take center stage, with refreshing flint, mineral and dusty blackberry tones filling the long, complex finish.

Growing Conditions

2008 was a topsy-turvy vintage in northern California. The year began with heavy winter rains, segued into drought conditions in early spring, then erupted into the worst frost season in 35 years in March and April. Coupled with poor weather during bloom and stress-inducing heat during grape set, these conditions dramatically reduced the size of the crop in many vineyards, greatly concentrating flavors and accelerating ripening. Clear, mild summer weather, with warm days and cool nights, brought our Lake County grapes to fruition between August 29th and September 30th.

Winemaking

Our first four vintages of Snow’s Lake Zinfandel were 100% varietal. In 2008, we decided to blend 11% Petite Sirah from another block in an adjoining vineyard to deepen the wine’s color and enhance its complexity and longevity. All the fruit was night-harvested to maximize freshness and purity and to protect our vineyard workers from summer’s heat. Our three clonal selections of Zinfandel, plus the Petite Sirah, were harvested, fermented and aged separately. After a short, warm fermentation in stainless steel tanks to fully extract color, flavor and tannins, the wines remained on their skins for several more weeks to further enhance color and flavor extraction while softening tannins. After pressing the wines off the skins, we transferred the lots to French oak barrels, 46% new, where they aged before the final blend was assembled the following spring. The finished wine aged another eight months in barrel before bottling in February, 2010.

Aging

15 months in French oak, 46% new

Food Pairing

Excellent with roasts, barbecue or spicy foods.