2014 Elyse Winery Zinfandel Morisoli Vineyard Rutherford Napa Valley 750 ml

In the realm of rare, world-class Zinfandels from Napa Valley, this Elyse single-vineyard bottling is a prized treasure, which we worked hard to secure for our Wine Club members—and the last few bottles are now available in The Store.

Sourced from the Morisoli Vineyard at the heart-center of Rutherford on the famous bench, surrounded by incredibly famous neighbors—Scarecrow, Inglenook, Staglin, and Joseph Phelps Vineyards—Gary Morisoli continues to farm a small patch of 100-year-old-vine Zinfandel on the same land where his grandfather was born in 1902. 

That land is dust. The famous Rutherford Dust—ancient ocean floor soils that are a mix of volcanic and oceanic bedrock all stirred together to form one of America’s greatest pockets of vineyard land where some of the most storied Cabernets come from. But Morisoli kept his Zinfandel vines because these same soils that imbue Rutherford Napa Cabernets with powerful structure and longevity do the same for Zin.

The 2014 Elyse Zinfandel possesses a claret-like style that is more reminiscent of Paul Draper’s Ridge Vineyard bottlings from the 1980s—it’s a quintessential throwback to the kind of gorgeous wines that put Napa on the map. Mouthwatering bramble and briary wild red berry fruits meet plenty of baking spice, soft tannins and baking spices on the finish. 

It’s one of the finest expressions of Old Vine Zinfandel that we’ve come across. Gary’s neighbor and close friend, winemaker Ray Coursen of Elyse, took full advantage of the sensational 2014 growing season—a year that Wine Spectator labeled a “dream” vintage.

The numbers tell the rest of the story: Elyse Zinfandels have garnered 4 out of 5 stars on Wine Access, from 145 reviews. Coursen’s 14-day native yeast fermentation delivers beautiful vineyard-specific high-toned briary fruit aromas with an underlying earthy mineral component. Uniquely aged for close to 11 months in American oak, of which 24% is new, delivers a delicious baking spice and Madagascar vanilla bean finish. 

Most California Zin is picked very ripe and aged in brand new French oak, all of which, in less careful hands, results in jammy and massive wines that need time to settle down. Coursen’s choice to let native yeast do the heavy lifting of fermentation means that beautiful nuances delivered from the very microorganisms that have made Morisoli Vineyard home for over a century produce distinctly elegant, high-toned aromas which are given an impeccable lift from his choice to use American oak, mostly used, rather than French. 

This utterly harmonious Zinfandel is steeped in classic Rutherford structure, with a firm, dusty tannin backbone and juicy acidity, which means if you’re able to hold a few bottles in a cool dark cellar for a decade (or more) the ripe fruit will soften and profound secondary savory notes will take hold, breathing new life into the wine—at six years since harvest, this library release is just hitting its stride.