2018 The Comet, Sonoma Valley

History

The Comet is a blend of three varietals that complement each other beautifully: Zinfandel, Carignane, and Petite Sirah. Together, they make a rich, complex, full-bodied wine with a tremendous depth of flavor. Each varietal adds flavor components and textural elements that create a wine that is a perfect complement to grilled meats or savory sauces—you can use The Comet to accompany foods much the way you would a nicely-aged Cabernet Sauvignon. 

The Petite Sirah comes from the Todd Brothers Ranch, a steep, red-rock vineyard in the Alexander Valley, where the vines struggle to produce a small quantity of grapes resulting in great intensity and structure. The old-vine Carignane comes from 130+ year old vines from the historic Evangelho Vineyard in Contra Costa.  Finally, the Zinfandel comes from 100 year old vines on one of most favorite vineyards in the Dry Creek Valley, the Louvau family vineyard. 

Production

In 2018, we harvested virtually all of our grapes before the fires that caused problems for many producers in the vintage. Luckily, the ripening weather before our harvest was relatively moderate, resulting in very balanced and fruit-forward flavors in the grapes. 
Our vineyards produced relatively small yields, resulting in dark, highly flavored wines. We fermented each grape varietal separately, using the native yeasts resident on the grape skins, and aged the wine for 14 months in French oak barrels. At blending, we used 26% of Petite Sirah to maximize richness and added 11% of Carignane as a “spice rack” wine for bright fruit and complexity. The resulting wine absolutely shines with its rich texture and depth of flavors.

Production: 472 cases

Tasting Notes