Silvert & Saibene Wines, LLP

Hawley Zinfandel

About the Wine

 

The Ponzo family has been farming their ranch just South of Healdsburhg, on the Russian River, since 1929. The vineyard lines the border of Dry Creek and Russian River Valley appellations. The grapes for this wine came from two separate blocks on the Ponzo ranch. The first is head-trained vines planted from cuttings off of the original 100-year-old vineyard on the property. The second is from a block closer to the Russian River planted with cuttings of the Ridge Geyserville clone.

 

We craft nine different wines at Hawley Winery, although more than half of them are less than 500 cases. Producing only 3,000 cases annually, we enjoy the freedom of our small family winery to make a variety of wines and styles. Making wines in small lots from select vineyards allows us to capture the character of a vineyard and a vintage, the terroir. We enjoy crafting small lots of unique wines that express our Sonoma County vineyards.

 

 

Tasting Notes

 

The 2012 Zinfandel shows bright aromas of raspberry with notes of spice and pepper. It is rich and well balanced with ripe flavors of red plum and wild strawberries. The wine finishes remarkably long with spicy vanilla and brambly flavors lingering. This wine typically drinks best in its youth, and being recently bottled, could benefit from another year or so of bottle aging before being at its best.

 

Technical Data

 

Appellation: Russian River Valley, Ponzo Vineyard

Varietal Composition: 97% Zinfandel 3% Petite Sirah

Alcohol: 14.8%

Cases Bottled: 850