Once & Future Release - March 20th

The upcoming release of the Once and Future 2016 vintage is scheduled for March 20, 2018.

The wines slated to be offered:

• “Oakley Road” Zinfandel*
• “Oakley Road” Mataro
• “Bedrock Vineyard” Zinfandel
• “Forcini Vineyard” Zinfandel
• “Teldeschi Vineyard” Zinfandel
• “Palisades Vineyard” Petite Sirah
• “Sangiacomo Vineyard” Merlot

“2016 was a superlative vintage for my wines. Needless to say I am very happy with them.”

  • Joel Peterson
  • I just got word from Mr Peterson that there will be a 2016 Zinfandel from the “Oakley Road Vineyard” too! :slight_smile:

Thanks for the update, Drew.

Was this an email? I did not see anything hit my inbox…looking forward to it!

Cheers,
JP

I messaged Mr Peterson. No email yet.

Perfect. Thanks Drew…

Hmmm it’s looking to be a 1+ case purchase…

Email Notification of the Release Date by Mr Joel Peterson was received this evening:
download.png
"This note is to remind you of our upcoming release that will take place at 12:01am PST, Tuesday, March 20, 2018.

"The offering will be open until 11:59 pm PST, Tuesday, April 3.


I will be releasing seven vineyard-designated wines from my 2016 vintage:

• Oakley Road Mataro / 250 cases
A beautifully full and drinkable rendition of this very old own-rooted vineyard in Contra Costa County.

• Oakley Road Zinfandel / 150 cases
This Zinfandel shares the sandy soils with Mataro’s old own-rooted vines, which produce very suave Zinfandel.

• Teldeschi Vineyard “Frank’s Block” Zinfandel / 225 cases
The oldest block on the Teldeschi Ranch. Essential Dry Creek character.

• Bedrock Vineyard Zinfandel / 250 cases
Sonoma Valley’s Agua Caliente Bench land produces beautifully balanced, structured, highly perfumed wines.

• Forcini Vineyard Zinfandel / 250 cases
Russian River Zinfandel with all the blue fruit and brightness that one could ask for.

• Palisades Petite Sirah / 250 cases
Palisades Vineyard Calistoga Petite Sirah; big, rich, intense. Beautifully expressive. A wine for the ages.

• Sangiacomo Merlot / 280 cases
An older Merlot vineyard in the Carneros region, producing superb, cool climate Merlot.

The case quantities are very limited. Each wine is handcrafted in small, open-topped redwood fermenters, fermented with native yeast and indigenous malolactic bacteria. All are aged in small French oak cooperage. These wines are a clear expression of my intent for Once & Future.

Thank you for your support of Once & Future. I look forward to seeing your name on my list of wine buyers on March 20!

Cheers,
Joel"

Once and Future Wine Website

images (4).jpeg

Merlot and Matero catch my eye.

Opens at 12:01 AM PST. First come, first serve?

Previous releases were allocated. Hoping this will be the same.

Thanks for posting the email. Mine went to my spam filter and I might have missed it if not for this thread.

+1 [cheers.gif]

Got the email that the offer is live. Been buying way too much wine lately but couldn’t pass this up. Order in.

From the Once & Future Release Email:


"The Essentials:

"For this third release, Once & Future wines will be sold on a first come, first served basis. Based on our last two releases, the wines sell out very quickly as volumes are small. (The 2014 Bedrock Zin sold out in 48 hours!!)

"The offering will remain open, assuming the wines do not sell out, until Tuesday, April 3, 11:59PM Pacific time. If you do not get allocated as much as you would like, please use our wish-list request feature in the checkout process. The wines are in short supply but there may be some wine to redistribute.

"There is $35 pro-rated Ground shipping on orders of 6 bottles or more. All orders will ship April 18th if Mother Nature cooperates. If not, we will hold the order until the weather is safe to ship. If you have any specific instructions, please put them in the Special Instructions section of your order or email info@onceandfuturewine.com

"If you don’t have a password or need a password for your account, please use the ‘Reset Password’ function on the login page.


1488: Export of a barrel of Tribidrag from Split, Croatia, to Apulia, Italy
—Dr. Ambrose Tudor, Ministry of Culture, Split

"If you were at a masked ball in a Venetian palace between 1300 and 1800, drinking red wine, what wine might you be consuming? It is very likely that you would be partaking of Zinfandel. All right, they called it Tribidrag, but that was before it migrated to the United States and its name was changed to one a little more simpatico with the American ear.

"The name change seems to be one of the last remaining mysteries associated with the once mysterious Zinfandel grape. When I began making Zinfandel in 1972, not much was known about the origins of this grape. Some posited that Zinfandel was a California grape, some that it was of German origin, and some, perhaps tongue in cheek, that it came from Mars. What was clear was that while there had been extensive plantings in California since the 1850s, it was a vinifera grape, which meant that its source almost surely was somewhere in Europe. Thanks to the excellent historical sleuthing of Charles Sullivan, we learned that the origins of California Zinfandel most likely were the Schonbrunn Palace Gardens in Vienna, Austria. The grape seems to have made its way to that American hot bed of grape growing, Queens, Long Island, New York, where it was grown by Col. George Gibbs in the 1820s, and continued its migration to Boston, where George Prince, a noted horticulturist, gave it the name Zinfandel. From there it was brought to California in 1852 by Frederick Macondray and given to Joseph Osborn, who planted it in the southern Napa Valley. Shortly thereafter, it was adopted by General Vallejo and Agoston Haraszthy, who helped establish its dominance in California. Indeed, by 1888, it was the most planted grape in California.

"Thanks to the advent of DNA identification and the intellectual curiosity of Dr. Carole Meredith, Ivan Pejić, and Edi Maletić, we now know the rest of the story. Was Zinfandel a German grape? Well, yes, if you believe that any part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was Germany. Based on early work with DNA testing, the variety Plavac Mali, thought to be Zinfandel from Croatia, tested as being an offspring of Zinfandel, as did a number of other varieties. In fact, there are some 20 other varieties around the Adriatic related to Zinfandel, including the true white Zinfandel GRK (think Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc). Clearly the source of the Zinfandel grape is around the Adriatic, and we now believe the primary source to be Croatia. It is also known as Primitivo, Morellone, Zagarese, Kratosija, and Crljenak Kastelanski in other parts of the Adriatic.

"Last year I was invited to participate in a conference in Croatia titled ‘I Am Tribidrag,’ which presented evidence that Zinfandel was originally a grape called Tribidrag that was widely grown on the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia by Venetian nobility who occupied that region from 1240 until their defeat by Napoleon’s army in 1800. There is much evidence of the ancient origin of the grape from historical literature work done by Dr. Ambrose Tudor, who found a record of the sale of a barrel of Tribidrag/Zinfandel from Split, Croatia, to Apulia, Italy, in 1488. Tribidrag even warranted a mention by Murat the Barbary Pirate in 1623. It seems that the Italians imported the wine before they made Primitivo, which is their version of Zinfandel. Interestingly, Primitivo means early ripening, as does the Greek-derived name Tribidrag. Dr. Jose Vouillamoz, the co-author with Jancis Robinson of the definitive book on grape varieties, believes that Tribidrag/Zinfandel may be one of the 13 ‘founder’ varieties of Europe from which all other grapes in Europe were derived. Who knew that Zinfandel, which became California’s workhorse grape, had such an illustrious and noble history?

"Certainly no one did when I founded Ravenswood in 1976. I must have sensed the noble past and the Siddhartha-like travels of this grape when I tasted the early efforts of Joe Swan, my mentor, and Dave Bennion of Ridge Vineyards. While practicing to make Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon, they exposed the true nature of Zinfandel by treating it like royalty rather than the jug wine that it mostly had become. With Once & Future, I have continued this tradition, which has become more commonplace in California (Bedrock, Carlisle, Turley, Biale, and Ravenswood, to name a few). I have worked with some of California’s most remarkable Old Zinfandel/Tribidrag vineyards to make the wine in a way that the vine age, history, and nobility of the grape deserve. To be the unwitting inheritor of such a heritage is a true gift—one that is my privilege to share with you. So put on your mask, pour yourself a glass of Once & Future Zin, and party like you are Venetian royalty.


THE WINES…

Oakley Road Mataro - Contra Costa:
"Mourvedre, the famous grape of Bandol, is known by the name Mataro in California. The Mataro grape has been planted in California since the 1870s, mostly as an adjunct in blends that were Zinfandel dominated. Though scarce, Mataro is an exceptional standalone grape in a few places. One of those is Oakley. In the eastern rain shadow of Mount Diablo near the San Joaquin River, vines on their own roots planted in sand dune-like soils in the late 1800s and early 1900s continue to produce some of the most interesting and highly regarded Mataro in California. The climate conditions are perfect for slow ripening grapes like Mataro. The smoky, soft cherry, plum flavors are well developed and full, with the acid perfectly balanced and the tannins soft and round.

2016 Oakley Road Mataro, Contra Costa County - $35

Oakley Road Zinfandel - Contra Costa:
"Oakley Road Zinfandel is planted on the same sandy slopes as the Oakley Road Mataro. These vines, planted around 1900, are on their own roots. Coming out of the sand with multiple arms like hydra, they are truly bush vines. Unlike most other California Zinfandel vineyards, the fruit is carried relatively low to the ground. The proximity to ground acts as shelter from the wind, which can be moderately intense in the afternoon in Oakley, while reflecting radiated light and heat back on the grapes from the sandy soils. The vineyard has about 10 percent Carignane and Mataro interplanted with the Zinfandel. The sandy soils and the own-rooted vines tend to produce unique, suave, textural characteristics in the wines. The wines have bright, ripe flavors, and are very spicy, with fresh acidity and smooth fine tannins in the finish.

2016 Oakley Road Zinfandel, Contra Costa County - $42

‘Franks Block’ / Teldeschi Vineyard
Dry Creek Valley
:
"From the Here and Now, the early 1980’s seem like a long time ago!

"I was a long-haired bearded young man who found himself having an unexpected luncheon with Frank and Caterina Teldeschi and their sons Dan and John…. Welcoming hosts, they represented the most recent two generations of an Italian family that had been farming their part of Dry Creek Valley since the early 1900’s. The lunch included copious amounts of wine (some made by me, some by Frank) and extraordinarily delicious food cooked by Caterina. I can still remember the menu; stuffed zucchini, homemade pasta with meat sauce made from tomatoes that Catarina grew in the back yard from seeds she brought with her from Italy as a young bride, roast chicken from her chicken yard, and a pork roast with potatoes from a wild pig Frank had caught rooting around the vineyard. To finish the meal, perfect biscotti and delicate rolled anise flavored cookies.

"I don’t know whether it was the food, the wine, the people or the amicable mix of all the ingredients that created the magic, but at the end of that lunch, Frank and I had a handshake deal for 4 tons of grapes and as it turns out, a 36 plus year friendship with the family.

"Over the years from that small beginning, the wine made from the Frank Teldeschi family grapes grew into one of Ravenswood’s most successful and most awarded single vineyard designated wines.

"Located in the heart of Dry Creek Valley on the Eastside bench land, Teldeschi Vineyard is in the best location of a valley that might be one of the best spots for growing Zinfandel in the world. Of course, Frank Teldeschi had his favorite blocks of grapes on the ranch; one of them was a small somewhat mixed block planted in the cobbly Tuscan Red Hill Series soils that Frank claimed was the oldest block on the ranch - that would mean it was planted sometime around 1900. “Frank’s Block” is low production – around a ton and a half per acre – and includes Carignane and Alicante Bouchet in the mix.

"When I started Once & Future, it seemed right to honor Frank and my long friendship with the Teldeschi family by making this favored old vineyard block into a stand-alone wine.

2016 Teldeschi “Frank’s Block” Zinfandel - $42

Bedrock Vineyard Old Vine Zinfandel
Sonoma Valley, 1888 Planting
:
(Disclaimer: Much of this history is stolen from the website of my son Morgan’s Bedrock Wine Company, which makes the spectacular Heirloom Blend from the same vineyard. It isn’t plagiarization if it’s your own genetic material, right?)

"Situated on the Agua Caliente Bench, Bedrock is one of the premier vineyard plots in Sonoma Valley. When Eugene Hilgard, the most important viticulture professor of his time, was asked in 1890 if any place in California could grow grapes to rival the great clarets of Europe, he unhesitatingly singled out this vineyard, whose history is also rife with some of the most notable figures of the nineteenth century.Founded in 1854 by Generals ‘Fightin’ Joe’ Hooker (just back from the Mexican-American War) and William Tecumseh Sherman (a San Francisco banker at the time!), the spot has grown grapes for more than 150 years. Following the first phylloxera epidemic in the mid-1880s, it was replanted in 1888 by Senator George Hearst, a mining magnate and father of publisher William Randolph Hearst; in the early 1900s, Hearst’s widow Phoebe sold it to the California Wine Association, which made wine from it until Prohibition. In 1934, the vineyard was jointly purchased by the Domenici and Parducci families, who ran the Valley of the Moon winery; when that relationship became acrimonious, the vineyard was split, with the Parducci’s taking the winery and smaller land parcel and the Domenici’s taking 152 acres that became as Madrone Ranch.

"In 2005, the Domenici’s sold the property to the Deininger / Peterson family. We renamed it Bedrock with a nod to its soil: Tuscan Red Hill series, washed down from the adjacent Mayacamas Mountains to form the alluvial fan on which the vineyard is planted. Because the place had been cultivated harshly for 100 years, we broke up the pan with a mechanical spader and revitalized the soils with compost and cover crops of vetch, bell beans, and rye grass; the cobbly, well-drained loam, combined with long warm summer days and cool evening air flowing through the Bennett Valley Gap alongside Sonoma Mountain (a climatic profile similar to that of Joe Swan’s domain, the Forestville area of the Russian River Valley) is superb for growing Zinfandel, a tradition we’ve maintained with old-school, head-pruned viticulture.

"Once and Future Zinfandel is crafted from the 128-year-old vines planted by George Hearst. The wines have an aromatic raciness and fine tannin structure that renders them elegant and long-lived.

2016 Bedrock Vineyard Old Vine Zinfandel - $42

Forcini Vineyard - Russian River Valley:
"Forcini Vineyard is an old (circa 1900) vineyard planted on the far eastern edge of the Russian River Valley AVA, just off the south side of Limerick Lane. This area of the Russian River tends to be warmer than most of the appellation and, in fact, there are those who believe it has some kinship to Dry Creek. Indeed, the wines have some of the boysenberry blue fruit and bright acidity that are typical of Russian River, but also exhibit a ripeness and fullness that are more characteristic of Dry Creek.

"The soils are sandy clay loam; the vines are relatively large and head pruned. The vineyard is at least 90 percent Zinfandel with interplanting of Negrette, Petite Sirah, Carignane, Alicante Bouchet, and a few other grape varieties.

"Fermented with indigenous yeast in small open-top stainless fermenters, punched down by hand, and aged in 30 percent new French Oak, the wine is bright and fresh. It drinks very well at the moment, but will evolve nicely for a number of years.

2016 Forcini Vineyard Zinfandel - Russian River Valley - $42

Palisades Vineyard, Napa Valley, Petite Sirah:
"There’s a good reason that, until the 1960s, Petite sirah was the most widely planted grape variety in Napa Valley. As is shown by the few remaining examples, grown in the right places it does very well there, making lovely, evocative wine even darker and spicier than Zinfandel, that other ‘California grape’ from Europe. If Napa had only had the guts to stick with Petite through the renaissance that transformed California wine, it would have been a more distinctive and interesting choice (not to mention better value) upon which to hang one’s regional hat than today’s dictatorial monarch, Cabernet Sauvignon.

"The best evidence is tucked into a narrow riparian canyon just east of the town of Calistoga, at the foot of the magnificent Palisades cliffs. This is Petite sirah heaven: The cobbly loam soil of the alluvial fan is perfect for the variety, and hot summers, cool westerly morning breezes, extended sunlight and adequate winter rainfall bless the fruit with exceptional concentration and depth. Viticulture here dates back to 1878, when James Horn, a settler from Scotland, first planted grapes; in 1908, Domenico and Gilda Barberis, recent arrivals from Italy, planted more vines along Horn’s Creek. Seven years later, they established ‘Bonded Winery Number 118’ at on the site.

"Sadly, despite a capacity of more than 20,000 gallons, the winery didn’t survive Prohibition, closing down in 1932. The vineyard, however, survived. Continuing to farm it until 1992, Domenico and Gilda’s son Frank planted petite on St. George rootstock in 1968 and again in the mid-70s. In the 90s the property was bought by Felicia Woytak and her husband Steven Rasmussen, who thankfully had the soul and character (not unlike petite itself) to ignore the prevailing commercial formula, choosing to respect and preserve the site’s heritage. Committed to organic horticulture, they’ve retained Jim Munk to manage the place’s traditional dry farming and head-trained viticulture.

"The Barberis would no doubt be pleased; I am overjoyed.

2016 Palisades Vineyard, Napa Valley, Petite Sirah $55

Sangiacomo Vineyard Merlot - Carneros:
"In 1989, I made my first Sangiacomo Merlot at Ravenswood. I learned of this vineyard from Dave Ramey, who had encouraged the Sangiacomo family to plant it for his use at Matanzas Creek. I continued to make Merlot from Sangiacomo Vineyard until the early 2000s. Ultimately, Constellation decided that Ravenswood’s focus should be on Zinfandel, not Merlot. At about the same time, Matanzas Creek discontinued its purchase of the Sangiacomo Merlot fruit.

"I had assumed that the Sangiacomos had pulled all these grapes out and replaced them with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, so I was happily surprised when my son, Morgan, told me he had been talking to Mike and Steve Sangiacomo, and they mentioned a section of Merlot still remained on the Kiser Ranch. I was very fond of the Merlots that Sangiacomo was making. Fortunately, the Sangiacomo family was gracious enough to sell me some of the Merlot block’s remaining fruit for Once & Future.

"This block, formerly 13-year-old Riesling vines, was budded to Merlot in 1987 and interplanted to reduce spacing in 1991. The soil is shallow gravel clay-loam, which is ideal for Merlot. Originally, the trellis was a bilateral cordon vertical shoot position set up. Due to the timing of the Carneros winds, which are frequently coincident with flowering and fruit set, a great deal of shatter resulted in very low crop levels. In some years, this imparted a fairly strong jalapeño character to the grapes. To combat this, the Sangiacomo’s have added an additional fruiting cane to the system, which increases the crop, bringing it into balance with the canopy and providing more harmonious ripe flavors. The combination of soil, trellising, crop, and canopy management, along with the cool Carneros climate, produces some of the most delicious Merlot in California.

“The wine is 100 percent Merlot, fermented with indigenous yeast and aged in French oak. Rich fruit, herb, vanilla, and cedar notes lead seamlessly into the lush velvety texture and full cherry berry fruit flavors, accented with hints of tar and mineral. Delicious to drink in the near term, the ripe tannins and bright acidity promise flavor development over the next decade or more. I recently opened a bottle of 1995 Ravenswood Sangiacomo Merlot, which was aging beautifully and more than satisfying to drink.”

2016 Sangiacomo Vineyard Merlot - Carneros $55


Once & Future Wine
PO Box 164, Glen Ellen CA 95442
info@onceandfuturewine.com
(855)-566-3946

16-OF-OAK-OVZ-8475.jpg
I love learning about wine, geology, and history in a release letter!!! :slight_smile:
16-OF-FOR-OVZ-1488.jpg
Y’all had better get on it if you want to buy any!!!
16-OF-SAN-MER-3028.jpg
↑↑ These are inaugural releases ↑↑

Order in. Looking forward to these.

Drew, thanks for the info on these. Have really been looking forward to trying them.

In for 3 each of the Zins - Oakley Road, Forcini, Teldeschi, and Bedrock. I think Oakley Road is the only vineyard of those four that I haven’t tried, and I’ve really enjoyed everything I’ve previously had from Forcini and Teldeschi (I think those wines were produced by Amphora).

What’s everyone’s thoughts on (the early end of) the drinking window for these? I can’t imagine that I won’t like them, but I was thinking about drinking one bottle from each of the four sources in the next year, to evaluate if I like them and want to purchase again in the future. And then holding the remaining two to enjoy with a bit more age.

Half awake, but order in.

I have largely done just that - open a bottle to see where these might go.

Overall they are reminding me much more of the Bedrock wines than the old Ravenswood wines. So I think that means a few years of cellaring will be beneficial, with no danger of a downturn. I don’t see them as potential old bones wines like some of the late '80s/early '90s Ravenswood Zinfandels.

After some thought, I’ll be taking a pass this time. There is no shortage of great Zins out there and I have more than my share in cellar. Very tasty juice, tho.

Too much wine so far this year and was going to pass… limited myself to 7 bottles and that signed poster.