“Our Zinfandels are like adult siblings from the same family,” says Winemaker Richie Allen. “They share the same roots, yet each has its own personality and story to tell.”

ROMBAUER ZINFANDEL

AMERICA’S HERITAGE GRAPE DELIVERS LIVELY WINES WITH A SENSE OF PLACE

AS ONE OF THE FIRST WINE GRAPE VARIETIES PLANTED in the United States, Zinfandel is considered America’s heritage wine grape, a variety with a robust history and one of the first to be introduced to California during the Gold Rush. Rombauer’s Zinfandels are a tribute to that history, sourced from some of the Golden State’s oldest and most respected regions and appellations for this varietal, including Napa Valley, Lake County and the Sierra Foothills (El Dorado and Amador counties). Our single-vineyard and blended Zinfandels are sourced from our own estate vineyards and from several family-owned sites, some of which date back more than 100 years. We are particularly pleased to be able to source from these historic vineyards. Their old vines have stood the test of time, and we are honored to make wines from their small yet precious yields.

IN THE VINEYARDRombauer Vineyards owns or controls over 350 acres of sustainably-farmed Zinfandel vines, with sites in several appellations that offer a range of climates, soils, elevations and vine age. In the Sierra Foothills, the elevation of our El Dorado Vineyard reaches 1,650 feet, and our oldest vineyard source there features head-trained, dry-farmed vines that are over a century old. The Diener Vineyard in Lake County sits at 1,700 feet, while our Napa Valley vineyards feature soils that check the vigor of the naturally abundant Zinfandel vines to produce grapes of intensity and concentration. These sites give us a range of high-quality fruit with different aroma and flavor profiles from which to fashion our Rombauer, Napa Valley and Proprietor Selection wines as well as our single-vineyard Zinfandels.

In all of our vineyards — estate or grower-owned — each block is micro-farmed and managed under our careful guidance. Aerial photos produced using NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) technology help guide vineyard management decisions so that farming practices such as compost applications, canopy management and irrigation are tailored to each block. This technology allows us to see all attributes of the vine canopy within a one-foot resolution and also helps determine when to pick the fruit.

IN THE WINERYThis combination of technology and hands-on winemaking practices continues in our cellar, where all of the grapes are carefully destemmed and optically sorted to ensure only perfect berries make it into the wine. Our Zinfandel grapes undergo a 6- to 10-day cold soak to extract color and flavor, and after fermentation, the juice is pressed off the skins using modern, hydraulic basket presses that result in lower yields but higher quality wine. Using pumps designed for gentle handling, the wine is racked to American and French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation and aging. We practice small-lot winemaking at Rombauer, which means every single Zinfandel lot is harvested and processed separately. The final blends for each wine are determined just prior to bottling.

Rombauer Vineyards | 3522 Silverado Trail North | St. Helena, CA 94574 | 800.622.2206 | rombauer.com

Night harvest at El Dorado Vineyard

AT A GLANCE

ROMBAUER ZINFANDEL

KEY POINTSFruit sourcing from California’s most revered AVAs for Zinfandel, including Napa Valley, Lake County, and the Sierra Foothills (Amador and El Dorado counties)

Fruit sourcing from old vine Zinfandel — in some cases vineyards that are over 100 years old

Micro-farming based on NDVI aerial photos and feet on the ground

100% handpicked fruit harvested at night and hand-sorted in vineyard; refrigerated trucks transport the fruit to our Napa Valley winery

Three optical sorters in cellar to ensure perfect fruit

Basket press for gentle extraction

Small-lot winemaking, down to one barrel

2015 ROMBAUER ZINFANDELVarietal composition: 94% Zinfandel, 6% Petite SirahHarvested: Aug. 26-Sept. 27, 2015Average Brix at Harvest: 28.0Cooperage: Aged 14 months in American oak (10% new) and French oak barrelsAlcohol: 15.9%Tasting notes: Concentrated aromas of blackberry and raspberry with notes of clove and spice. Lush flavors of blackberry, cherry, licorice and vanilla, with pepper in the background. Plush and round tannins, and great length, mark the finish.Food pairings: Braised Short Ribs, Grilled Jamaican Jerk Chicken and Seafood Gumbo

EL DORADO VINEYARDCooled by elevation rather than fog, this spectacular vineyard sits at 1,650 above sea level, with sandy soils and a complex topography simply ideal for Zinfandel. El Dorado — “gold” in Spanish — is just a stone’s throw away from where California’s Gold Rush began. Having purchased grapes from the vineyard in the past, Koerner Rombauer jumped at the chance to buy the property in 2010. The vineyard needed much work, but two years and hundreds of labor hours later, it produced the grapes — and the wine — Koerner knew it was capable of. Today, it is a key component of Rombauer Zinfandel and the crown jewel of our Zinfandel program.

Each Zinfandel in Rombauer’s portfolio — Rombauer, Napa Valley, Proprietor Selection, Fiddletown and El Dorado — is made with the same exacting attention to detail in both the farming of the vineyards and the production of the wine. And because of the quality and range of fruit under our control, we are able ensure that each Zinfandel is differentiated in terms of flavor profile, texture and style.