Once & Future 2017 Zinfandel, Oakley Road, Contra Costa County

Once & Future 2017 Zinfandel, Oakley Road, Contra Costa County

Item Number: 13301

UPC: None

Country: USA
Region: California
Sub Region: Central Coast
Appellation/AVA: Contra Costa County
Estate Grown Wine: No
Vineyard Designation: Oakley Road Vineyard
Vintage: 2017
Grape(s): Zinfandel
Type: Wine - Red
Bottle Size: 750 ml
Pack: 12
Closure: Cork
Alc by Vol(%): 14.8
Viticulture: Practicing Organic
Soil Type: Sand

Oakley Road Zinfandel is planted on the same sandy slopes as the Oakley Road Mataro. These vines, planted around 1900, are on their own roots. They are truly bush vines coming out of the sand with multiple arms like hydra. Unlike most other California Zinfandel vineyards, the fruit is carried relatively low to the ground. The proximity to ground acts as shelter from the wind, which can be moderately intense in the afternoon in Oakley while reflecting radiated light and heat back on the grapes from the sandy soils. The vineyard has about 10 percent Carignane and Mataro interplanted with the Zinfandel. The sandy soils and the own-rooted vines tend to produce unique, suave, textural characteristics in the wines. The wines have bright, ripe flavors, and are very spicy, with fresh acidity and smooth fine tannins in the finish.

Vintage Notes: "I am very pleased with these [2017] wines. 2017 was a solid year for Once & Future. It, of course, was the year of the great conflagration in Sonoma. But that occurred well after all my grapes were harvested. The wines have received very good scores from the press that have reviewed the wines thus far." - Joel Peterson

Antonio Galloni, Vinous, May 2019
"Joel Peterson is one of the seminal figures in American wine, and yet he remains incredibly down to earth, with a level of youthful passion and excitement that is great to see. The 2017s are strong across the board, even if some of the wines show the effects of the heat spikes that conditioned the growing season."

Reviews

  • The Wine Spectator
    Rating: 92 (6/30/2019)
    Refined, svelte and well-built, with elegantly layered black raspberry, zesty jalapeño and licorice flavors that finish with refined tannins. Drink now through 2026. 226 cases made.
  • Vinous
    Rating: 90 (5/1/2019)
    The 2017 Zinfandel Oakley Road Vineyard handled the rigors of the growing season with more success than the Mataro. Floral notes add lift to the red stone fruit Zinfandel flavors. Silky, aromatically open and inviting, the 2017 has a lot to offer. I would prefer to drink it over the near and medium term.
  • The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 92 (2/6/2020)
    The 2017 Zinfandel Oakley Road Vineyard comes from own-rooted, head-pruned, 117-year-old vines grown in sandy soils. It was harvested August 30 and aged in 30% new French oak. Medium ruby-purple, it has aromas of stone-fruit salad, pipe tobacco, black cherries, earth, dried leaves, chargrill and a red berry core. Medium-bodied, it offers intense, earth-laced fruits, a firmer, grainy frame and great freshness to lift the long finish. This combines restraint with power and merits another couple of years in bottle.