2023 Boatman Graveyard Zinfandel

Floral, with notes of cherry cola, black tea and pepper. Medium-bodied with soft, elegant tannins, fresh plum, kalamata olive and black tea. SR (6/25)

The cold, wet winter pushed back flowering and limited set in the Graveyard Block at the top of the vineyard. Named after an adjacent cemetery from the 19th century, this block typically produces the richest fruit. In 2023, we bottled it separately to showcase its sumptuous zinfandel character. Appealing on release, it will develop over the next seven or eight years. SR (1/25)

Tim Boatman’s grandparents, Emilia and Eugene Moretti, emigrated from the mountain town of San Pellegrinetto, Italy in the early 1900s. In 1935, Emilia and Eugene were able to acquire this fifty-acre ranch that sits in the hills on the border of Dry Creek Valley and Alexander Valley. Eugene used the property for wood cutting and when he passed away he left the property to Tim’s mother and uncle. Tim purchased the property from them in the mid-sixties, when he was only nineteen years old. In 1972, Tim Boatman planted fifteen acres of zinfandel on the steep hillsides that surround his house. The rocky, east-facing terraces are ideal for growing intense, concentrated fruit.

Rainfall: 64 inches (above average)
Bloom: End of June
Weather: Late and prolonged harvest due to consistently cool weather throughout the growing season.

Harvest Date: 24 September
Grapes: Average Brix 23.9˚
TA: 5.03 g/L
pH: 3.60
Fermentation: Natural primary and natural secondary (malolactic) fermentations. Pressed at thirteen days.
Barrels: 100% air-dried American oak barrels (15% new and 85% five-plus years old).
Aging: Fourteen months in barrel

Sustainably farmed, hand-harvested grapes; destemmed and crushed; fermented on the native yeasts, followed by full malolactic on the naturally occurring bacteria; oak from barrel aging; minimum effective sulfur for this wine (35 ppm at crush; 70 ppm over the course of aging); pad filtered at bottling. In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention, this is the sum of our actions.

See all food pairing recipes we have created specifically for this wine.