Wine Spec article: Bedrock Vineyard '11-'17 Vertical

Wine Spectator
“Heritage Zinfandels: A Bedrock Vineyard Vertical Tasting”

by Tim Fish
June 24, 2019

“Members Only”. Dang?!!!

Jun 24, 2019, Tim Fish

Bedrock Vineyard in Sonoma Valley has been producing wine for 130 years. Situated in a mid-valley sweet spot for Zinfandel, its neighbors include distinguished and historic Zin vineyards such as Old Hill and Monte Rosso.

The soul of the vineyard, the crème de la crème, is the 33 acres of the original vines. When winemaker and Ravenswood founder Joel Peterson bought the vineyard in 2004, he DNA-tested and mapped all 16,279 of the oldest vines. The results were fascinating, but not altogether surprising. The old block is what old-timers called a field blend, a vineyard with an eclectic mix of grapes interplanted and harvested together—thus, the wine’s blend is made in the field.

DNA results found nearly 30 different varieties in the 33 acres, with Zinfandel dominating, but there is also Carignane, Mourvèdre and Petite Sirah, plus obscure grapes such as Trousseau Noir, Mondeuse and even Mission. Some vines could not be genetically identified.

Morgan Twain-Peterson, Joel’s son, made his first wine from the vineyard under his Bedrock label in 2007, and his goal was to show that these old field blend vineyards could make classic wines in the right hands.

A handful of modern wineries have championed these field blends for years, most notably Seghesio Home Ranch and Ridge Geyserville and Lytton Springs blends, although they no longer harvest and crush everything together. Morgan aims for 14.5 percent alcohol, considered a moderate ripeness level for reds like Zinfandel. Fermentation and malolactic fermentation rely on indigenous yeasts, and the winery avoids prevalent cellar techniques like adding tartaric acid to balance ripeness or adding water to dilute the alcohol level.

The wine is fermented in open-top tanks and undergoes frequent pump-overs, and then it’s aged in French oak, an average of 25 percent of which is new and a significant percentage of it in large-format barrels. Wines are aged in barrel for about 11 months.

I tasted and rated these wines non-blind; they are developing impressively and, in a few instances, show improvement since release, particularly the 2011. While Zinfandel and Zin blends from top vineyards can age gracefully, they seldom develop into better wines in the cellar.

Bedrock The Bedrock Heritage Sonoma Valley 2011 (96 points, non-blind) A gorgeous wine, showing only a trace of age. Supple, rich and impeccably balanced, with blackberry, dark Asian spice and smoky licorice.

Bedrock The Bedrock Heritage Sonoma Valley 2012 (95 points, non-blind) Still boldly youthful yet structured, with floral wild berry, smoky pepper and a whiff of exotic incense. Finishes with zesty yet refined tannins.

Bedrock The Bedrock Heritage Sonoma Valley 2013 (93 points, non-blind) Firmly structured when I tasted it in 2015, it retains a sense of brooding muscle, but the huckleberry, black pepper and spice box flavors are fleshing out nicely.

Bedrock The Bedrock Heritage Sonoma Valley 2014 (91 points, non-blind) From a moderately warm drought year, this blend has plumped out and seems riper and more supple at this point in its development, with fleshy black cherry and spiced licorice flavors.

Bedrock The Bedrock Heritage Sonoma Valley 2015 (94 points, non-blind) Has opened up and fleshed out since I reviewed it in 2017, but it retains all its power and charm, with black raspberry and smoky plum, orange peel and bitter chocolate flavors.

Bedrock The Bedrock Heritage Sonoma Valley 2016 (96 points, non-blind) Wine Spectator’s No 10 wine in 2018, this wine has gotten even better in the past year. It’s impressively structured and full of rich and distinctive wild berry, Asian spice and orange peel flavors.

Bedrock The Bedrock Heritage Sonoma Valley 2017 (95 points, non-blind) Brooding but not a bruiser. Finesse combines with power, offering fervent blackberry, fruitcake spice, ground pepper and orange zest accents that build intensity toward big but polished tannins.

I was tempted to do the same, Clyde, but not brave enough

Thanks guys! My overall favorite from the Bedrock stable, and I’m not surprised by the reviews…other than 2011. I know my man Alex Stewart said it was great the other day, but I just havent loved that wine (or really any of the 11’). Still holding a couple Bedrock Vineyards to see what happens but finished off the rest from the vintage.

Awesome Drew, thx for posting!

Rich, I know you’re not too fond of the 2011 vintage but man alive, that 2011 Bedrock Heritage is killer! What’s really weird is I’m also in complete agreement with WS about the 2014 Bedrock Heritage, just not up there with best releases (and for my palate, 2014 is just a weak vintage for Bedrock overall).

Not gonna lie…you make me wanna open an 11. Have 2 left…think its worth trying one now, or best to wait??