Tripartite Lot 909 California

Quite unusual in the wine industry, Cinnabar boasts a tasting room staff with enough wine savvy to determine the varietal content of this limited production wine. The feat was part of an in-house competition to find the best blends for three new releases. Ten well-educated workers, some credentialed sommeliers, survived three rounds of rotating teams with each team submitting a final blend for each wine. Robust zinfandel is combined with lusty teroldego and lively valdiguié to produce a blend with complex aromas, fl avors and structural components as well as New World panache and Old World origins. Considered a Croatian native by geneticists, zinfandel is mainly a Californian phenom that has been a favorite variety of Italian-American vintners since the 1880s. In contrast to that legacy, teroldego is a fullbodied red grape from the Trentino-Alto Adige region of Northern Italy that produces wines with a solid foundation of balanced acidity and tannin. Valdiguié, a medium-bodied workhorse grape from southern France, contributes bright aromas and acidity.

Tasting Notes

Opening with concentrated blackberry and a sidebar of red fruit, the nose is further defi ned by vestiges of cigar smoke, dried brush, anise and cinnamon. The palate shows black fruit, vanilla, dark toasted oak and tar above a ledger of firm tannins, medium body, vibrant acidity, smooth texture and soft mouthfeel. The narrative closes with dark berry, vanilla and baking spice

Winemaking

• Hand harvested in mid-October 2004, 2006 and 2007 into small bins
• Three days of cold soaking to enhance the color and aromatics
• 7–10 days of fermentation in a fi ve-ton, open-top stainless steel tank
• The must was punched down 3 times daily for max fl avor extraction
• Aging: French and Amer oak barrels (33% new) for an avg of 38 mos
• Final blend determined by a judicious barrel selection
• Bottled unfiltered to preserve the varietal integrity

Vineyards

California AVA

Technical Data

Varietal Content

33.3% zinfandel
33.3% teroldego
33.3% valdiguié

Finished Alcohol

14.4%

Total Acidity

0.66mg per 100ml
pH: 3.62

Release Date

November 2009

Downloads

2007 Tripartite Product Sheet
- low resolution - high resolution