Green and Red Chiles Mill Zinfandel

Wine & Spirits 93 points – TOP 100 BEST BUYS OF 2018 – While Jay Heminway’s two other estate vineyards face northeast, rising up the ridge in the Chiles Valley, Chiles Mill faces northwest. When Heminway replanted the vineyard in the mid-1990s, he selected the material from the Trentadue Ranch in Geyserville; aside from zinfandel, the cuttings included a bit of petite sirah, syrah, carignan and grenache, along with some Italian varieties. In 2015, those vines seem to have benefited from both the cool morning fog and the warm afternoon sun, offering a wine that’s at once supple and voluminous while remaining firm and tight. When you first open the bottle, you might find balsamic concentration to the flavors and dried mushroom scents. Give it time in a decanter and the wine gains in freshness, a raspberry rasp and boysenberry tartness reining in its rich middle. Cellar it, or decant it for grilled quail. (900 cases).June/2018