Biale Black Chicken Zinfandel

Description

”2015 BLACK CHICKEN NAPA VALLEY ZINFANDEL Sourced from the same family vineyard that Aldo, Nonna, Bob Biale and the Biale family have farmed their whole lives, with additional grapes from our neighboring winery vineyard in the Oak Knoll District, Black Chicken stands as the ultimate expression of Zinfandel from the coolsouthern Napa Valley, and perhaps the most famous icon of Napa Valley Zinfandel in general.Vintage NotesEarly harvest yields high quality wine grape crop. In spite of dry conditions, vintners are using words like quality, complexity, ageability, and excellent to describe their expectations for the 2015 vintage in Napa Valley. Harvest started and ended with record early dates.WinemakingOur winemaking begins in the vineyard with meticulous attention to detail and close monitoring by Bob Biale and winemaker Tres Goetting. The winemaking philosophy is to grow our wines concentrating our efforts all season long in the vineyard so that when the fruit arrives into the cellar, only minimalistic vinification is needed. We want the wines to speak of the soils from which they were grown.At harvest, the fruit is hand-picked and hand sorted to ensure that only the best fruit makes it into the fermenter. The grapes are then crushed and gravity fed into open top tanks. The must is cold soaked for 2 to 4 days at 50F. We then inoculate the must with commercial yeast strains. For color and tannin extraction, we do 2 to 3 punch downs per day. Fermentation is usually complete after 14 to 16 days at a maximum temperature of 86F. At dryness, we lightly press to 100% Burgundy oak barrels of which 20% are new. Malolactic fermentation is completed in the barrels. The wine was aged in barrels for fourteen months.Winemakers Tasting NotesThe Oak Knoll Winegrowing region is prevalent in this wine with its dark color, ripe aromatics and juicy acidity. The nose is full of vibrant black cherries, strawberries, creme fresh, dried flowers, brown and black spices and bread pudding. The entry is soft and weighty and gives way to supple, round tannins. The lovely finish is the signature of this elegant, surprisingly feminine, and remarkably balanced Zinfandel that is immediately drinkable and worthy of 5 to 7 more years of cellar time. ” – Robert Biale