2023 was a great vintage for the regeneratively farmed ancient vines at our home ranch! The 1888 plantings at Bedrock Vineyard yielded a balanced 2.3 tons per acre of inky deliciousness. Though all 27 varieties are present in the wine, this is dominated by Zinfandel from blocks 38 and 40, along with some of the best Carignan and Mataro we have ever gotten from the ranch. The result is a magical rendition of the wine, filled with swirling dark fruits and garrigue, that is the bottled essence of Sonoma Valley. We often say that the wines of the southern Rhône are the old world cousins of some of our field-blended wines—- those wines are also field-blended, and Zinfandel and Grenache can share a lot of similar personality traits. In 2023, Chris and I both tasted the finished version of this wine and immediately were struck by its kinship to higher elevation Gigondas or restrained Châteauneuf-du-Pape—- though the core of Zinfandel is still there, the long growing season pushes the perfume into a higher octave then we have seen before. For us, Bedrock Vineyard Heritage Wine is our equivalent of Ridge’s Geyserville bottling—something we have made every year since our inception and one that will be the benchmark of our reputation as a winery. This is the seismic epicenter for all that we do at the winery and a wine we put thought and love into each vintage. We were richly rewarded in the excellent 2023 vintage with a wine that will join some of the great vintages from the vineyard.