Description
Stampede Vineyard, named after fairgrounds next door where rodeos were once held. The vineyard was finished being planted in the 1940s and the vines continue to grow on their own-rooted, head-trained Zinfandel, Mataro, and Mission along the high banks of the Mokelumne River in the eastern side of Lodi. The soils are sandy and coarse. Though Zinfandel tends to have a higher sweetness level and uneven ripening, the winemakers aim for the acidity by picking early and in clusters. Once the grapes make it to the cellar they simply poured the clusters into one-ton open-top fermenters and wait for activity. Subsequently, the team trod lightly on in order to just juice the top portion of fruit. We drained and pressed to neutral 500L puncheons and bottled ten months later without fining or filtering.
Aromatically the wine has a combination of red and blackberries, with a hint of fresh herbaceousness. On the palate, the wine has notes of brambly blackberries, with elevated acidity and satisfactory tannin structure.