Mazzoni Home Ranch (Advance Tasting Program wine)
Vineyard
First RIDGE Mazzoni Home Ranch: 1996
Location: West side
of Alexander Valley, on the northern edge of Geyserville.
Soils: Gravelly clay
loam
Age of vines: Young
vines: all zinfandel, planted 1990s, 2 acres. Old vines: mixed zinfandel,
petite sirah, carignane, planted c. 1900, eight acres.
Training: Head trained
(no trellis), spur pruned.
Yields: 1.5-3 tons/acre
History
Giuseppe Mazzoni and his fourteen-year-old brother-in-law, Abramo Trusendi, arrived
from Italy in 1898 and went straight to work at the Italian Swiss Colony
vineyard cooperative in Asti, California. In 1899, the two managed to acquire
hillside acreage nearby overlooking Alexander Valley from the west. By 1910
they had built a winery and begun making wine. Except for the Prohibition
years, they produced wine there until 1978. The Mazzonis were great believers
in the contribution each varietal in a field blend could make to the finished
wine. Accordingly, their century-old zinfandel is interplanted with carignane,
which adds elegance, and petite sirah, which provides spice and depth. The
Mazzoni Home Ranch was purchased in 1988 by Niccolo and Flora Oltranti who,
with their son Paul, continue the tradition of quality viticulture.
