2018 Bedrock Wine Company The Bedrock Heritage

2018 Bedrock Wine Company The Bedrock Heritage

2018 Bedrock Wine Company The Bedrock Heritage: These vines turned 131 years in 2018 and Bedrock Wine Company decided it would be a great year to turn out a relatively small crop of delicious and dense fruit. As always, the wine, though based around Zinfandel, is a field-blend of the 27 varieties found in the old vines at my family’s site in the heart of Sonoma Valley, including about 20% Carignan and 5% Mataro. Like the other Sonoma Valley “Grand Cru” sites, this will definitely reward time in the decanter or a few years on its side to start showing all of its secrets. The 2018 should be another classic.

Bedrock Vineyard

“It is an absolute privilege to oversee such a rich piece of Californian history.”

Sonoma Valley – Bedrock Vineyard is one of the most historically and qualitatively gilded plots of land in Sonoma Valley. Taking up 152 acres of the heart of Sonoma Valley, the vineyard occupies a large section of one of the best growing climates for grapes on earth.

Founded in 1854 by Generals William “Tecumseh” Sherman and General “Fightin’ Joe” Hooker, Bedrock Vineyard has grown grapes for over 150 years. Following the first epidemic of phylloxera in the mid-1880s, the vineyard was replanted in 1888 by Senator George Hearst—a mining magnate, an early father of California, and the father of publisher William Randolph Hearst. It is from those 120-year-old vines that the Bedrock Heritage Wine is crafted.

These vines turned 131 years in 2018 and Bedrock Wine Company decided it would be a great year to turn out a relatively small crop of delicious and dense fruit. As always, the wine, though based around Zinfandel, is a field-blend of the 27 varieties found in the old vines at my family’s site in the heart of Sonoma Valley, including about 20% Carignan and 5% Mataro. Like the other Sonoma Valley “Grand Cru” sites, this will definitely reward time in the decanter or a few years on its side to start showing all of its secrets. The 2018 should be another classic.

“Medium ruby-purple, the 2018 Bedrock Vineyard Heritage opens with fantastic perfume: ripe peach, sliced blueberries, warm red cherries, underbrush, violet and dried tangerine peel with nuances of crushed stone, dried hollyhock and exotic spices. Medium-bodied, it floods the mouth with singularly perfumed fruit layers, with a chewy frame and wicked freshness, finishing long and evolving. Wow! Just a pup, give this another year or two in bottle and drink it over the next 10-15 years.”- 94 points Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate

“One the brawnier wines in this range, the 2018 The Bedrock Heritage Wine is dense and powerful, as wines from this Sonoma Valley site so often are. Black cherry, chocolate, licorice, spice, bay leaf and earthy tones add complexity as well as nuance. This virile, potent red is going to need a number of years to be at its very best, but it is already super-impressive. The field blend is approximately 75% Zinfandel, 20% Carignan and 5% Mataro, but includes a total of 27 varieties.” – 94 points Vinous

“Heady, yet refined and polished, with boldly expressive black raspberry, orange peel and spice box flavors. This is full of additional nuances and builds toward big but fine-grained tannins.”  – 94 points Wine Spectator