Cline Cellars Live Oak Vineyard Zinfandel

Cline Cellars Live Oak Zinfandel is a single vineyard zinfandel made by Cline Cellars. It is made with fruit from a single vineyard in the Contra Costa County AVA. It is located directly east of San Francisco Bay within California’s Central Coast AVA. It is a classic big Zinfandel.

In 1982, on leaving university, Fred Cline returned to his hometown Oakley, Contra Costa County (equidistant between Sacramento and San Francisco) to found the company that would become Cline Cellars. There he started producing wines and restoring ancient vines. Today Zinfandel, Carignane and Mourvèdre produced from these vines are some of the most unique and historic wines made in California – the coming together of the climate, the soil and the landscape are the epitome of Oakley terroir. In 1991, the winery relocated from Oakley to the Carneros region of Sonoma County on a historic 350-acre estate with new vineyards and facilities. While much of the cool Carneros region is planted to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Merlot, Fred Cline pioneered the planting of Rhône varietals including Syrah, Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne.

Cline Cellars Live Oak Vineyard Zinfandel is named after Live Oak Road in Oakley which runs adjacent to the vineyard. Cline Cellars dry-farms the ancient, head-pruned vines, a practice employed by the Italian and Portuguese immigrants that planted this vineyard well before the turn of the century. The Oakley terroir is characterized by the hot sun, sand soil, and a unique band of air that flows from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers.

The grapes for the Cline Cellars Live Oak Vineyard Zinfandel were harvested at natural high sugar levels and treated gently in the cellar to emphasize the explosive fruit characteristic of the vineyard block. The fruit was almost entirely de-stemmed and lightly crushed, with a large proportion of whole berries remaining in the must. Fermentation occurred at moderate temperatures in stainless steel tanks, using a selection of cultured yeasts. After eight days of gentle “pump-overs” and near dryness the wine is drained and pressed the wine from its skins. The wine is minimally handled before being put down to barrel where it is aged for 10 months in 40% new, medium–toasted, French oak barrels.

Suitable for vegans and vegetarians.