2005 PETER FRANUS NAPA VALLEY ZINFANDEL

I began the “Peter Franus Napa Valley Zinfandel” label in 2002 to allow me more blending flexibility and to hone down the number of wines in my portfolio—to reduce confusion and vineyard designation sprawl. My goal is to create a wine with a little more immediate quaffability that may consist of grapes from more than one vineyard or, as in 2005, from a single vineyard.

         Terry Wilson has supplied me with awesome Cabernet Sauvignon since 1996. A few years ago as Terry and I walked around the vineyard with the proverbial kicking of dirt, we decided it was time to give Zinfandel a try. We selected a beautiful hillside bowl through which the afternoon winds blow—toughening skins and increasing intensity was the thought—and harvested the first crop in August of 2000.

            2005 was a wonderful, bountiful, long growing season that resulted in wines with great intensity in all dimensions—flavor, color, and aromas. A very cool early September had us wondering if grapes would ripen at all, but the weather finally cooperated with enough heat and no rain to guide us to another wonderful vintage.

As for the wine. Dark ruby in color, it offers a deep, rich, heady nose. Allspice and cinnamon emerge, dominated by blackberry and raspberry with a hint of white pepper. Rose petal and sweet toasty oak complement the aromatic espresso notes of the wine. Think berries and cream when you consider the flavors. Lush and round, an appropriate acidity keeps the wine lively.

Warning. This is not your sipping-on-the-patio-by-itself Zinfandel. Drink it responsibly with foods of your liking! Something from the grill or a rich and savory dish would do the trick.