Bedrock Wine Co. 'Bedrock Vineyard Heritage' Red Blend, Sonoma Co., California 2022

Winemaker: Morgan Twain-Peterson, MW

Farming: Sustainable

Variety: Field-blend of the 20+ varieties planted in 1888 at our home ranch. Based around Zinfandel (roughly 65%), the Bedrock Heritage always has a generous dollop of the spectacular old vine Carignan and Mataro in it, along with the smaller percentages of Syrah, Petite Sirah, Tempranillo, Trousseau, Castets, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Alicante Bouschet, Grand Noir, Lenoir, et al…

Terroir: home estate, planted in 1888

Tasting Notes: Bold and spicy, with black and purple fruit notes, and a supply smooth palate

From our Bottle of the Month Club, April 2024

Bedrock Wine Co. Bedrock Vineyard Heritage Red, Sonoma Valley, CA 2022

The history of this bottle begins long before its vintage. Let’s go back to the beginning, way back to when the Bedrock Vineyard was first established.  In 1853, two American generals, William “Tecumseh” Sherman and “Fightin’” Joe Hooker, purchased a 550-acre land grant from General Vallejo of Mexico in what is now known as the Sonoma Valley. The first Vitis vinifera (European wine grape species) in Sonoma Valley were planted on this land, and unlike the parceled-out, neatly planted rows you find in modern vineyards, vines of different varieties were haphazardly planted all next to each other like little trees.
In the mid-1880s, the devastating root louse phylloxera swept through the region and killed the vines. Still, in 1888, the vineyard was replanted by the land’s subsequent owner, Senator George Hearst (the father of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst). Prohibition hit California wine country hard from 1920-1933 and thousands of acres of vines were ripped out across the region to make way for legal fruit trees and other crops. The original ownership of the land surrounding this vineyard changed hands multiple times and split the original acreage, and even more bouts of phylloxera swept through Northern California in the 1980s. Somehow, throughout it all, these now-136-year-old vines survived and its fruit found its way into this bottle.
The vineyard is now known as Bedrock Vineyard and since 2005 has been owned by the legendary Peterson family. Joel Peterson, known as the “Godfather of Zinfandel”,  was the founding winemaker of Ravenswood from 1976 until its sale in 2001. Now his son Morgan Twain-Peterson, one of the few Masters of Wine who are also winemakers, oversees the land as the founding winemaker of Bedrock Wine Company.
The oldest plantings of Bedrock Vineyard (and many other vineyards in California) are considered a dear part of California’s agricultural and wine legacy, and it makes sense that this bottling be labeled as a ‘Heritage’ wine. The "Bedrock Vineyard Heritage" 2022 is a field blend of over 20 varietals, led by Zinfandel, plus Carignan, Mataro, plus whatever else happened to grow there, like Syrah, Tempranillo, Trousseau, Alicante Bouschet, and some other varieties which have never been truly identified.  It’s a true patchwork that encapsulates the diversity and richness of Sonoma's history. 
Everything is harvested by hand and co-fermented in whole clusters with its native yeast. The result is a spicy and perfumed wine with a melange of blue and purple fruits, black pepper, and cinnamon sticks. It’s a juicy wine with a big, complex mid-palate and a lovely finish— super balanced and ready to drink.
This wine is a bit like tasting history. Want to know some other things that happened in 1888 when these wines were planted? The National Geographic Society was founded, Benjamin Harrison won the electoral college and became President-Elect, and Katz's Delicatessen was founded in the Lower East Side of Manhattan! Those are OLD vines. (Speaking of delis, this wine would be awesome with a Katz’s Reuben on Rye!) — Cara Patricia