Once & Future 2019 'Frank's Block' Zinfandel, Teldeschi Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley

Once & Future 2019 'Frank's Block' Zinfandel, Teldeschi Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley

Item Number: 16397

UPC: None

Country: USA
Region: California
Sub Region: Sonoma
Appellation/AVA: Dry Creek Valley
Estate Grown Wine: No
Vineyard Designation: Teldeschi Vineyard
Vintage: 2019
Grape(s): Zinfandel
Type: Wine - Red
Bottle Size: 750 ml
Pack: 12
Closure: Cork
Alc by Vol(%): 15
Case Production: 403

Winemaking Notes: All the wines from the 2019 vintage have been made in the traditional Once & Future wine style: small open-topped redwood fermenters, full destemming, no berry sorting, indigenous yeast, hand punch down of the cap, indigenous malolactic fermentation, and aging in French oak on the yeast with variable amounts of new barrels, depending on the character of the wine. The wines were bottled with no fining or filtration. In short, this is very simple, traditional winemaking that relies on the unique aspects of the vineyard to define the flavor, nature, and quality of the wine. The goal here is not to make a good-flavored beverage, though these wines taste very good; it is to give the drinker a sense of the vintage and place that formed the flavors in these wines. These 2019 wines are bright and juicy on the palate with a strong spine of acid and tannin.

About Teldeschi Vineyard: Joel was a long-haired bearded young man who found himself having an unexpected luncheon with Frank and Caterina Teldeschi and their sons Dan and John…Welcoming hosts, they represented the most recent two generations of an Italian family that had been farming their part of Dry Creek Valley since the early 1900’s. The lunch included copious amounts of wine and extraordinarily delicious food cooked by Caterina. Joel doesn’t know whether it was the food, the wine, the people, or the amicable mix of all the ingredients that created the magic, but at the end of that lunch Frank and Joel had a handshake deal for 4 tons of grapes and, as it turns out, a 36 plus year friendship with the family.

Located in the heart of Dry Creek Valley, on the east side of the benchland, Teldeschi Vineyard is in a location of a valley that might be one of the best spots for growing Zinfandel in the world. Of course, Frank Teldeschi had his favorite blocks of grapes on the ranch; one of them was a small somewhat mixed block planted in the cobbly Tuscan Red Hill series soils that Frank claimed was the oldest block on the ranch. That would mean it was planted sometime around 1900. Frank’s Block is low production, around a ton and a half per acre, and includes Carignane and Alicante Bouchet in the mix.

When Joel started Once & Future, he decided to honor Frank and his long friendship with the Teldeschi family by making this favored old vineyard block into a stand-alone wine.

Reviews

  • Vinous
    Rating: 95 (1/15/2021)
    The 2019 Zinfandel Teldeschi Vineyard Frank's Block, from the oldest block on the estate (planted in 1904) is bright, punchy and full of character. Vivid and so alive in the glass, the 2019 is absolutely compelling right out of the bottle. Red/purplish berry fruit, lavender, rose petal, mint and blood orange build in a creamy, beautifully textured Zinfandel-based wine loaded with character. Old vine Carignane and Alicante Bouschet round out the blend. The Teldeschi is a real standout.
  • The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 93 (6/3/2021)
    The 2019 Zinfandel Teldeschi Vineyard Frank’s Block, deep ruby-purple in color, unfurls slowly to very pretty scents of tangerine and blue and red berry preserves, layers of dried lavender, garrigue and apricot. The palate is medium-bodied and seamless, with layers of berry fruit and spice supported by a grainy frame, and it finishes long and juicy.