April 2009 Cellar Wine Club Selection
The Oakville appellation within Napa Valley has been well-established as a benchmark Cabernet producing appellation for some time, but it took some foresight on the Downing Family's part to discover it as a great Zinfandel appellation as well. Just a few hundred yards across the road from the famed Opus One vineyard lies a vineyard called H&H, which is farmed organically by Napa organic farming pioneers the Pelissa family.
How the Pelissas and the Downings got together and determined that this Cabernet land was suitable for great Zinfandel is still a mystery to us, but somehow they knew, and today the St. George's rootstock and White Barn Ranch clone vines produce the top-notch Zinfandel that goes into the Downing Family's Fly By Night Zinfandel. Remarkably bright red fruit and what many call a "Cabernet-like depth and complexity" make this a Zinfandel worth cellaring for a few years, should you choose to be so patient.
