Back when Italian immigrant families were planting vineyards in Northern California, they instinctively knew that they needed a variety of vines to ensure that odds were on their side to get a crop each year. These "Dago" Red field blends usually included, among others, Zinfandel, Allicante Buchet, Mouvedre, petit Sirah, Carignane, Grenache, and whatever else they could mix in. As single varietal and single vineyard plantings gained in favor, a lot of these heirloom vineyards were pulled and planted over to more profitable grapes, such as cabinet and Merlot.
What a pity. If you have ever drank a wine from one of these heirloom vineyards you are in for a treat. They are usually dark as night, smokey, fruity and headonistally full of flavor and umpth. These were the wines that the Italian immigrants made for themselves. Many of these vineyards were in the Sierra Foothills and Mendocino, and we almost lost them.
Then as an unintended consequence to a totally commercial development, White Zinfandel. As this wine gained in popularity, vineyards yielding Zinfandel had to be saved to feed the nation's craving for this product. Along with these Zin vineyards were many mixed black vineyards as well.
The first major producer to make use of these gems was Ridge. They developed a whole range of Zinfandel based wines that were field blends. In the 80's they even took Zinfandel off the label and only identified the wine by where it was from, Geyserville, Litton Station, Paso Robles, etc. These wines showed amazing depth and terroir and were immediate sensations. I remember participating in a vertical tasting of the Geyserville wine and a question came up about something or another. As it was 7:30 New York City time, we called the Ridge winery in Cupertino to speak with Paul Draper, their winemaker. He took the call and then participated long distance with us for the rest of the tasting. Getting his comments on what he was trying to do with each wine was priceless.
Recently I had the rare opportunity to sample Rudd Winery's Edge Hill Mixed Blacks. Edge Hill Vineyard is a small block located off Highway 29 in St. Helena, it contains all the varietals you expect to find in Mixed Blacks. It was a revelation, showing just how unique and wonderful these field blends really are. Edge Hill Mixed Blacks received a 96 from Parker, is very rare (under 100 cases), and very expensive ($100). And it is very worth seeking out.
Ravenswood, a Zinfandel that brags about making No Wimpy Wines (you can get bumper stickers and buttons with this slogan in a myriad of languages from the winery) has their own field blend called Icon Mixed Blacks.Dense with black fruit and black pepper, and with firm tannins, this wine is also worth seeking out. At 1000 cases and only $75, it is probably available from fine wine dealers in numerous places.
And that finally brings me to last Wednesday. While attending a tasting at the Meritage Hotel in Napa, I stumbled upon Trintas Winery's Old Vine Cuvee. It was a stunning mixed black blend from Mendocino County. At $20 per bottle it was the steal of the year. While not as dense as the Edge Hill or Icon, it packed plenty of power and all that brambly fruit that these blends are designed to deliver. Look for this and buy it by the case, values like this are hard to find and must be acted upon immediately.
All of these wines are part of the California wine heritage and should be treasured. We as serious wine drinkers cannot let these wines disappear.
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