GOLD: 3-2002 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
FANUCCHI
VINEYARDS 1997 OLD VINE ZINFANDEL
(“VINE MASTER”: PETER FANUCCHI
P.O. BOX 290 FULTON CA.95439 FAX 707 544-6106)
1997 was an incredible vintage for the Fanucchi Wood Road
Vineyard!
The combination of years of my micro-farming (retraining each vine;
literally farming vine by
vine & row by row) and the long &
extra-
ordinarily uniform environment (Notably provided by a rainy season having a
statistically a
normal total, but by ending in February, allowed the low
normally wet
areas to have uniform soil moisture and temperature at bloom time).
Despite the
“normal” rain fall after a perfect spring & bloom, a moderate
Russian River Valley Summer; the long growing season
actually led this
Dry farm into the most
severe drought stress I had seen since 1977!
(A “dry farm”
depends completely on rainfall for its moisture & by September
Of 1997 instead
of 3 months since a replenishing rain we were going into the 7th
Month of drought! )
This uniformity translated into a fruit maturity that
without having to
Include the prunie raisins that can hide the fruit with
excessive alcohol.
In a word this vintage is a fruit bomb I describe as:
RASPBERRIES! As a winegrower my
goal is to always showcase
The fruit first which, like this vintage, makes a fantastically
versatile
FOOD PAIRING wine (forget this one if you want excessive oak &
Alcohol!)
Alcohol:
13.8, TA: 7.43, PH: 3.24
Approximately 700 cases in distribution across the USA and
A few other countries! (in California ~$39.00+/Bottle) +33 Medals !
RESTAURANT WINE Issue#70: ****+
Norm Roby “robywine.Com” Vol.2 No.1 3-7-99: “92”,“…it is hard to find a
Bigger, bolder Zin than this 97.”
6-1-2001 Best of Class Los Angeles County Fair
Wall Street Journal 6-1-01: “Now this is
Zinfandel, dark, chewy, rich & serious. Wow.” “…very hard to find if not
impossible…”
