2020 Primitivo Reserve
Our newest Primitivo Reserve vintage 2020 is a robust and powerful tasting wine. Mainly oak driven in flavor but coupled with a myriad of fruit flavors, it's full-bodied and fills its tannic frame with delicious aromas of fig, blueberry, dark-cherry, blackberry and bittersweet dark-chocolate flavors. A touch of spicy raspberry boosts the palate and extends the finish for a lasting impression. In a challenging year this wine proves that vines are resilient and often show their best character when moderately stressed. I love how this wine tastes right now, but assuredly it will stand the test of time and age for a good 10 plus years. The bouquet and mouthfeel mold together in tight fashion on the rich palate, where balanced tannins and acidity present a wine that can be paired with food or easily enjoyed as a stand-alone. The abundance of dark fruity flavors coats the palate and persists deep into the finish. Available strictly to our wine club, at just 300 cases this is one vintage that will sell out fast!
This wine is a combination of two Primitivo lots called, "Camioneta," and "Cache," and both were grown on the 8-Acre Ridgeline plot and were the last lots harvested in that vineyard. The crop was perfectly balanced with superb cluster and berry uniformity, especially for the Primitivo-Zinfandel variety. Natural acidity in the grape was nice and high even with elevated sugars. Both lots came in super ripe and were starting to show about 25% raisins in the clusters. We destemmed the fruit (not crushed) and whole berry fermented the grapes in stainless tanks and in 500L new puncheon barrels. Like in previous vintages we selected our go to yeast combination of Premium Zinf andel and yeast strain 3001. Another amazing feature of this wine is that it aged in 100% new American Oak barrels. The Camioneta lot was aged in thin stave tight grain Minnesota American 300L oak barrels, while Cache lot was aged in "u-stave" Appalachian American 500L oak barrels. The wine was bottled in May of 2022 with a total of 300 cases produced.
| Download Wine Notes |
| Vintage | 2020 |
| Varietal | Primitivo |
| Varietal Composition | 100% Primitivo |
| Appellation | Paso Robles |
| Vineyard | Frankel Family Estate |
| Acid | 0.66 g/100 ml |
| PH | 3.55 |
| Residual Sugar | 0.05 g/100ml |
| Alcohol | 16.00% |
| Volume | 750 ml |
| Bottling Date | 05/18/2022 |
| Cases Produced | 300 |
| Country of Origin | UNITED STATES |
| State of Origin | California |
The 2020 growing season was the most challenging year in the vineyard since the 2011 vintage. Heat spikes and smoked filled skies kept us on the edge of our seat all throughout late summer and into the fall season. The fruit however came out remarkably clean, ripe, dark in color and packed with the perfect phenolic maturity and flavors. The vines are planted on a vertical trellis system, spaced out 5 feet between in vine and 10 feet spaced out between each row. The vineyard is steep and features the only limestone outcroppings on the 265-acre ranch. We pruned to 2 buds per spur and 10 total spurs per vine. This way the crop is balanced and limited to around 3.5 tons per acre. Leaf pulling and cluster thinning was done as needed to free up space around the fruit, allowing sunlight and wind into the vines dense canopy. The grape harvest came a full month earlier in 2020 compared to previous vintages, and most varieties ripened at the same time. These Primitivo grapes were some of the best fruit we have ever seen and tasted on the property!
