2013 Elyse Winery Zinfandel Korte Ranch Vineyard St. Helena Napa Valley 750 ml

When we talk about rarity, we don’t just mean ultra-expensive, better-not-touch bottles. We’re also talking about those that unlimited funds can’t even buy you, wines whose barrier isn’t price, but the simple fact that you don’t see many of them around. The kind we wish we saw a lot more often is prime, cellared Zinfandel.

We met Elyse proprietor Ray Coursen for lunch at Redd Wood in Yountville a couple months back, and as we walked up, we were ecstatic to see the bottle he’d set on the bar. It wasn’t one of the stellar single-vineyard Elyse Cabernets that Wine Access members have made sure sellouts—not that we would have complained—but a perfectly mellowed, dried-fruit-laden Korte Ranch Zin from the outstanding 2013 vintage.   

Normally we’ll start a meal with a dry white wine or glass of Champagne, but since the bartender had already popped the cork, we let Ray pour, and when the purple-garnet Zin hit our glass, we dove right in. Bursting with deep and dense dark plum and dried cherry, it had the emerging savory herbs and elegance that only perfect cellaring can bring out. The silky mouthfeel and bright-acid frame give way to granite, licorice, plus toasted coconut and vanilla from ten months in American oak. 

After taking a few big sips and savoring the long, mouthwatering finish, we managed to turn our focus away from the Zin and to the menu. And when the check finally came a good two hours later, you can be sure we picked it up—along with every last case of the 2013 Korte Ranch Zin that Ray had socked away at the winery. 

It’s the kind of aged Zin that makes us wish we could scour every cellar in the Valley, and we’re thrilled that our relationship with Elyse has earned us the opportunity to bring it to you for just $22—that’s 44% off SRP.

We drained that bottle to the last drop before making short work of the backup that Ray had stashed in his bag, so consider that—along with the half-off price and the fact that we can never count on hitting the aged Zin jackpot—when deciding how much to buy.

Elyse is Inside Napa at its best—an under-the-radar winery turning out small lots of phenomenal wines that rarely make it out of the Valley—and the Korte Ranch Zin comes from the kind of partnership that has always made the Valley hum. For two decades, they’ve turned to the now-fifth-generation Korte Ranch for stellar old-vine Zinfandel. Located north of the town of St. Helena in the narrow nook where the eastern and western hills meet, Korte Ranch is in red wine heaven, adjacent to Duckhorn and just a stone’s throw from Turley. 

The site has been owned and tended by the Korte-Pagendarm family since their German immigrant forebears purchased it in the 1890s, first farming walnuts, prunes, apples, and pears along with grapes. The Zinfandel comes from one of the most distinctive plots in Napa Valley—it was originally planted before prohibition, and the gnarly head-trained vines average more than 70 years of age. Poking out of rocky loam soils, the Zinfandel is dry-farmed, and ripens in the intense up-valley heat before finding relief during the cool, breezy nights and misty mornings. These ideal conditions result in Zinfandel of ideal ripeness, concentration, and acidic verve. 

That irrepressible acid is what allows such a fruit-laden Zin to age gracefully, and after seven years, Ray’s is delivering big on the promise of a stellar site, an outstanding vintage—and a seasoned vintner’s patience. Luckily, with this aged beauty begging to be opened, you won’t need any.