2014 Teira Wines Zinfandel Sonoma County 750 ml

An Unlikely Mentor: Sunday Suppers with Julia Child

What Zin-master Bill Knuttel and Dan Donahoe are doing in collaboration at Teira never ceases to amaze us. Vintage after vintage, they are producing what we consider the juiciest, remarkably balanced, and most restrained under-$20 Zinfandels in Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley.

WineAccess members share our opinion. Many buyers have snapped up more than 2,100 cases of Teira Zinfandel from Biglieri, Ottimino, and Briarcrest vineyards since 2010. Every vintage, it’s a feeding frenzy.

So how is it that the most unlikely of mentors, Julia Child, is squarely responsible for Dan Donahue’s meticulous attention to detail and obsession with crafting perfectly balanced Dry Creek Zinfandel? The Phoenix-raised Donahoe spent Sunday nights in the Cambridge kitchen of the Grand Dame of French cuisine — all thanks to his grandmother, who was Julia’s maid of honor, and who introduced them when Dan arrived at Boston University for his freshman year.

Over the next four years, Dan watched in awe as the lifelong friends spun magical dishes out of Julia’s kitchen. “What I really took away from her was the lighter side of food and wine,” Dan told us. “There’s a direct correlation from my education in Julia’s home to how we approach the Teira Zinfandel. We try making the wines accessible, just like Julia was.”

In May of 1992, inspired by those Sunday suppers and forgoing a career lobbying on K Street, Dan rode his 1974 Honda CB-750 cross-country to work the harvest in Napa. Eventually, he would form a partnership with Bill Knuttel (Chalk Hill, Dry Creek Vineyards, Ottimino). Twelve years later, Dan and Bill, would bottle their first Zinfandel together, the same year Julia Child passed away at 91.

Teira Zins are excellent in every vintage, but in 2014, a vintage Bill Knuttel told us was “ideal” at Teira, they somehow took it up a notch. An uneventful spring and continued drought conditions brought little summer rain. Even a savvy veteran like Knuttel was surprised to see advanced ripeness in early August, something he hadn’t seen in three decades. Flavors and tannins matured fully long before sugars, so sugar levels were closely monitored to guide the decision of when to pick. That careful attention paid off in grapes with superb balance and dark color, harvested through early October.

The 2014 Zinfandel is classic Teira. Aromas of fresh raspberries, burnt rosemary, and subtly integrated oak spice leap from the glass. Fresh, juicy, and polished on the attack, beautiful red-fruit flavors are balanced by high-toned acidity and delicate but firm tannins. Rarely do we find such expertly grown Zinfandel drinking at this level of accessibility right out of the gate, with alcohol levels masterfully in check at a perfect 14.5%.