2012 Bedrock Pagani Ranch Heritage Wine

One of the inkiest, juiciest wines in the Bedrock lineup, the 2012 Pagani Ranch Heritage is flat-out stunning. Violets, cloves, menthol and licorice all add complexity to the dark blue/blackish fruit. A juicy, exuberant wine, the 2012 is delicious today, but it will drink well for another decade-plus. The tannins are a bit firm, but also beautifully balanced by the sheer intensity of the fruit. Pagani was planted between the 1880s and 1922 and is a tribute to the farmers who first settled Sonoma Valley. And the wine? An absolute steal. It's as simple as that.

A real blockbuster, the 2012 Pagani Ranch Heirloom (400 cases; 15.3% alcohol) comes from the cool Kenwood area of Sonoma Valley from vines planted in the 1880s. It is a mixed black blend of Zinfandel, Mourvedre, Petite Sirah and a grape called Lenoir. The wine reveals fabulous fruit intensity (black currants, black cherries, raspberries) along with notions of spring flowers, incense and camphor. Full-bodied, juicy and succulent with good underlying structure, this mouth-staining and mouth-filling, dry red should drink nicely for a decade. Morgan Twain Peterson, the son of Ravenswood's Joel Peterson, has hit the wine scene with a bang, producing vibrant, personality-filled, delicious wines from extremely old vines and, in some cases, virtually unknown grapes, such as Aubun, Teredalgo, Trousseau Noir, Le Noir, Mission, Trousseau Gris, Grand Noir and Abouriou, as well as Zinfandel, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Grenache, Carignan, Alicante Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Tempranillo. Many of these sites are heritage terroirs from the ancient past which, until Peterson's arrival, were largely ignored or were co-mingled into some innocuous industrial blend. Bedrock's portfolio is filled with exciting wines. The 2012s reviewed herein will all be bottled and released by Fall, 2014. Tel. (707) 343-1478