Cline Cellars, ‘Old Vine’ Lodi Zinfandel 2020 Cline Cellars

Get to know: Cline Cellars, ‘Old Vine’ Lodi Zinfandel

Tasting Note

A bold and jammy Zinfandel with ripe black cherry, raspberry and wild strawberries with coffee and chocolate notes. The palate is juicy and round with bags more fruit combines and spicy notes of star anise and clove. The tannins are soft and there’s just enough balancing acidity. It is very more-ish.

Try this with roast pork belly.

Kate Says

“Zinfandel makes bold, fruity wines that are easy to enjoy. The wines from Cline have lots of the ripe fruit you want but also keep a balance of structure making them really satisfying. I’d enjoy this with a spicy stew.”

Producer Info

Cline Cellars is a family-owned vineyard and winery in Sonoma’s Carneros Valley. Established in 1982 by Fred Cline, a descendant of Italian US settlers, he originally founded the winery in Oakley, Contra Costa County, cultivating Rhône varieties and Zinfandel on vines dating back to 1906.

In the 1990s, the family moved their winemaking operation to a 350 acre ranch in Carneros Valley, adopting sustainable farming in 2000, and building the largest solar panelled winery in California.  Fred Cline saw the potential of Rhône varieties and Zinfandel in his vineyards and continues to produce focussed, terroir-driven wines.

This vintage draws from 14 superb Zinfandel vineyards in the legendary area of Lodi where warm days and cool nights have ripened grapes to perfection for over 100 years. The grapes were de-stemmed and lightly crushed to preserve fruit and limit harsh tannin extraction. The wine was racked two or even three times before aging in wood for eight months. This achieves early elegance without sacrificing bright fruit. They used 35% new French oak, which contributes a delicate toasty vanilla character to the wine without masking the abundant fruit.

This wine is suitable for consumption by Vegetarians and Vegans.