2019 Omen Zinfandel Origins Sierra Foothills 750 ml

The high-end wine world didn’t kick Alexandre Remy out.

He did it himself. 

After accumulating winemaking experience and working as a technical consultant for houses like Baron Philippe de Rothschild and Moët & Chandon, Alex bolted to craft incredible, affordable wines from California’s best out-of-the way sites. The French-born winemaker couldn’t resist the Golden State’s untapped bounty. 

It’s no surprise he headed straight to California’s Sierra Foothills, the region attracting a growing number of Napa Valley A-listers like Helen Keplinger and Andy Erickson. For those stars, the payoff comes in $75 wines that keep pace with their pricier Napa flagships. 

With Remy’s 2019 Omen Origins Zinfandel, the payoff is one of the most stunning under-$20 California wines we’ve tried. Makes sense, since last year’s earned 91 points in Wine Enthusiast, a bunch of great reviews from Wine Access members, and, as Alex told us about the 2019, “I didn’t change a thing.” 

Alex is well qualified to turn hidden terroir into incredible value. For this 2019, he chose 2300-foot-high vineyards in the Sierra Foothills’ tiny Fair Play sub-AVA. The site boasts generous sunshine and well-draining, decomposed-granite soils reminiscent of the Northern Rhône—factors that help create beautifully aromatic Zinfandel. 

Alex has maintained luxe vineyard and cellar practices but stripped out every superfluous cost—down to the label design—that might drive up the wine’s price. He accented the 2019 Omen’s rich complexity and bright acidity with nine months in partially new French oak, bolstering the ripe fruit with an impressive structural sophistication.

This overachiever perfectly embodies why the Sierra Foothills is one of the last frontiers of underpriced California wine—and why Alex Remy is a vintner to watch.