2018 Bedrock Wine Company "Bedrock Vineyard - Heritage" Sonoma Valley Red Blend

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. (EB) (12/2019)

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. (AG) (4/2020)

This wine is mineral-driven and mysterious, offering distinct hints of crushed rock and crisp red fruit. From the producer's own site, it has a dusty quality to the texture that remains unfettered and sublime in nature, complementing its more savory edges. *Editors' Choice* (VB) (3/2020)

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. (TF) (11/2019)

Remember how gobstoppers would change colour and flavour as you sucked them? This layered beauty is like that – first full of blackberries, then black plums, citrus and dried herbs, all hung on a solid acid core. It’s intense, but nothing in it is raisined or screechy. A field blend of up to 27 varieties, based on 50% Zinfandel with about 20% Carignan and 5% Mataro. (JC (1/2020)

This wine is recommended among a selection of Zinfandels in our September 16, 2019 newsletter: "Why You Should Drink More Zin!" K&L Domestic wine buyer Ryan Woodhouse says: "I have sent many of K&L’s overseas visitors home with Bedrock Heritage bottlings in place of their initial choice of a flashy Napa Cab. If you want California in a bottle, look no further than humble Zinfandel. I also believe we’re currently drinking in an era when the grape has never been more revered, and is treated with respect, by a core group of producers who are making some of the finest Zin-based wines ever. The vines are old, the farming is better than ever, and the winemaking is informed and on-point. Furthermore, you can get a bottle of absolute top-notch Zin, from the best, oldest, most famous vineyards in the world, made by the most heralded winemakers to handle the varietal—and you’ll still struggle to spend more than $75, tops. You can’t say that for Napa Cab or Burgundy!" And Robert Parker writes: "Everybody should recognize the incredible speed at which Morgan Twain-Peterson has built his Bedrock Wine Co. into a world-class performer. Moreover, few people have done more to preserve and save heritage/ancient-vine vineyards than Peterson... His commitment to excellence is something to admire."