San Lorenzo The Pearl Old Vine Red 2014

When my great grandfather, Francesco Passalacqua purchased this vineyard in 1896 with ten gold coins he earned working in California’s goldmines, the deed made reference to a young zinfandel vineyard. That vineyard I still tend today. In fact, walking the vineyard I realized it is not simply Zinfandel so I enlisted the expertise of Dr. Andy Walker from UC Davis to help me identify the abundance of varietals. We discovered our own gold mine. While this century old field blend is almost 70% Zinfandel, the remainder boasts not only Zin’s usual companions, Petite Sirah and Carignane but also Grand Noir, Alicante, Negrette and Mataro. My mother cherished this original block of San Lorenzo. In her honor, we call it THE PEARL.