2013 Three Wine Company Old Vines Field Blend Contra Costa County 750 ml

Old Vines and a Perennial WineAccess Favorite

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“Contra Costa summers are hot,” our buddy Matt Cline was telling us, “the best vineyards are those planted closest to the river.” We were going to town on the all-you-can-eat ribeye lunch at Mac’s Ol’ House a few years back, and when Matt gets going, we take a big bite. “The best vintages come from the dry, mild years. 2012 was exceptional. But 2013 is a class apart.”

Matt’s among the legions of Northern California winegrowers who won’t soon forget that 2013 growing season. A mild spring got vines off to a fast start, making for a copious fruit set. The summer too was mild and dry. When Cline made the call to harvest in late August, even the old-vine Zinfandel — notorious for its uneven ripening — was perfectly formed. “There was no desiccation. No raisin-ing. I could have shut down the sorting table and sent the crew home. There was nothing to sort!”

It helps that Matt’s working some of the most historic vineyards in California. Legend has it that Portuguese and Italian immigrant families — the Spinellis, Lucchesis, Evangelhos, and Jacuzzis — rode buggies down from the old Buena Vista Winery well over a century ago. They came to to Contra Costa County’s Delhi sand shorelines and twisted in 6-inch budwood. They could not have imagined what a young California enologist, the grandson of Valeriano Jacuzzi, would do to protect and preserve these vines a century later.

No wonder Matt considers these grapes a priceless treasure; these are no ordinary vineyards. There’s no dirt, no gravel, no galets roules. Here everything is sand, bleached white like in Atlantic City or Jones Beach. The varieties include Spanish Mataró, Carignan, Zinfandel, and Malvasia Nero.

The 2013 Three Wine Company Old Vines Field Blend is exquisite — a blend of 100+ year-old-vine Zinfandel, Mataró, Carignan, Alicante, Petite Sirah, and Malvasia Nero. Brilliant purple/black to the edge, with exquisite primary-fruit aromas of blackberry, mountain blueberry, violets, and graphite. Massively concentrated, rich and ripe, silken and almost chewy in texture, the core bursts with black-fruit intensity. Despite coming in at over 15% alcohol, dusty tannins and low-pH vibrancy combine to keep all the natural opulence of 2013 marvelously in check.

WineAccess members have gone wild for Three’s Old Vines Field Blend, year after year. This masterful blend has accumulated 4-star (1959) and 5-star ratings (642) scores from satisfied buyers over the years — the most in WineAccess history!

$13.99 for the highest-rated under-$15 American Red we’ve ever offered. Shipping included on 12 or more. If there’s any left after the repeat customers and the bargain-hunters place their orders, you’ll be happy you joined their company.