California’s 1st Red

McManis Family Vineyards 2020 Zinfandel, Lodi
90 points and a Best Buy – Wine Enthusiast, February 2022
“This full-flavored and appetizingly tannic wine offers generous toasted oak and grilled meat aromas. The palate boasts good, pure blackberry and raspberry flavors and a mouthfilling sense of concentration.”

 

 

Turley 2020 ‘Juvenile’ Zinfandel, California
‘Juvenile’ is composed of a variety of young vines (6-25 years) that have been replanted in several of Turley’s old vine sites (27 different vineyards!). The wines are fermented with native yeasts and spend 12 months in barrel before release. Lifted aromatics of red and black fruit lead to nuanced notes of incense, spice and cedar. The palate is soft and alluring with a wealth of crushed flowers, tobacco and succulent red berry fruit. The finish is expressive and refined, offering soft tannins and juicy acidity.

 

 

Storybook Mountain 2018 ‘Mayacamas Range’ Zinfandel, Napa Valley
94 points – Joshua Greene, Wine & Spirits Magazine, May 2022
“Jerry Seps’s widest selection from his hillside estate northwest of Calistoga, Mayacamas Range is meant to be enjoyed in its youth. The wine has grace and energy, delivering dark-cherry roundness directly into the tannins and their bone-broth savor. Those tannins combine blueberry-skin freshness and a hint of bitter almond in a lasting, supple impression. Heady and beautiful.”

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Storybook Mountain 2018 ‘Eastern Exposures’ Zinfandel, Napa Valley
96 points – Joshua Greene, Wine & Spirits Magazine, May 2022
“The cool eastern exposures of a volcanic hillside overlooking Mt. St. Helena produced this gold standard of Napa Valley red wine. Tastings Editor Corey Warren described its scent as California forest, citrus, blackberry and herb. That distinctly California-woodlands scent appeared in my own notes as madrone, pine and wild blueberry. This is a savory red, all about brisk and bold tension in its structure and freshness in its fruit. The lively interplay of floral, herbal, fruity and umami is a window into the complexity this wine will develop with age. Drink some now to enjoy a Napa Valley classic in its youth, then cellar the rest for a decade or more.”

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The McManis family has been farming California’s northern interior since 1938. Today, the winery has grown, with the majority of the vineyards located in Clarksburg, Lodi, Jahant-Lodi, River Junction (they are the only vineyard owner in this AVA), Mokelumne River and Clements Hills AVAs. 5th generation, daughter, Tanya, and son, Justin have joined their parents in the business along with son-in-law, Dirk who looks after the vineyards. The wines, winery and vineyards are Certified Sustainable under the Lodi Rules for Sustainable Winegrowing, among the most stringent certification bodies in the state and indeed the world. This is a real source of pride for the family and a commitment they do not take lightly. Read more.

About Turley

Larry Turley founded Frog’s Leap Winery in 1981 with John Williams, on a farm he’d owned since 1974. Then in 1993, Larry sold his share of Frog’s Leap, kept the property (the first certified-organic vineyard in Napa), and established Turley Wine Cellars. All the while, he worked full time as an ER physician at Santa Rosa Hospital. From the beginning, Turley focused on Zinfandel & Petite Sirah, and for the first vintage Larry relied on his sister Helen as winemaker. Twenty-five years later, Turley produces 47 wines, from 50 different vineyards — many dating from the 1800s. Read more.

About Storybook Mountain

Jerry Seps worked as a sommelier before becoming a professor of European history; a tenured position he gave up in 1976 to make wine at the ‘first estate in Napa’ — Storybook being the first vineyard encountered when crossing into Napa from Knight’s Valley-Sonoma, north-west of Calistoga. On a 100-acre estate, 40 acres of east/north-east facing vineyards at 600-1200 feet, are home to 105 blocks of 28-35 year-old vines. This is the coolest microclimate in Northern Napa (typically 10º cooler than St. Helena), and the aspect (and red clay-loam soil) provides a longer, more even growing day, leading to Storybook’s signature style: intensity without weight. Herbicides and pesticides have never been used, and the vineyard is certified organic. Read more.