2016 Three Wine Company Zinfandel Live Oak Vineyard Contra Costa County 750 ml

We won’t soon forget the afternoon we spent with Zinfandel master Matt Cline, whose penchant for preserving the oldest, most significant Zinfandel vineyards in America is why we’re able to offer his opulent, concentrated 2016 Live Oak Zinfandel. When translated to bottle, Cline’s historic sites yield dramatic offerings, loaded with class and lush, dark-berry fruit.

Matt has sought out the most noble vineyards in the state—sometimes battling real estate developers over them—and turned them into wines that deliver an unfathomable amount of concentration and richness for the price. Much of this, of course, is due to the sites he chooses.

Their mature vines produce dense, concentrated berries bursting with polyphenols and flavor compounds. The resulting wines are dazzling and complex, but tiny crops often mean that the winemakers who work with such sites are forced to blend across vineyards to produce a viable amount of wine. That’s why single-site, old-vine wines like this one are few and far between.

Matt Cline called Live Oak Vineyard “the crowning achievement of ancient-vine Zinfandel in America.” This time-tested parcel in Contra Costa County contains 130-year-old vines that grow without trellising, irrigation, or anything resembling modern farming. Planted in 1895, the site has a history that makes some of the oldest Cabernet vineyards in Napa Valley seem like they were planted last week. It sits on Delhi sand 30 feet deep, and produces far less fruit than its peers. Composed of 77% Zinfandel, 12% Petite Sirah, 9% Carignane, and 2% Alicante Bouschet, this wine is one of the most spectacularly concentrated, ethereally complex Zins in California.