If there is a wine Mecca in America it very well may be Monte Rosso (Italian for “Red Mountain”) Vineyard, dug out of an iron-red hillside in the Mayacamas range, in Sonoma County, at about 1,000 feet elevation. Growers have been producing prodigious fruit on this site for 125 years. BIG Cabs, BIG Zins, BIG Syrahs. With the emphasis on BIG, in case you’re a slow learner.
The Monte Rosso Vineyard – sunbathing in mid-September. The vineyard sprawls between 700- and 1200-feet in elevation.
“I’ve come to Monte Rosso today to pray at Mecca,” says Ed Sbragia, jokingly bowing to the infinite blue sky that crowns this 250-acre vineyard, now owned by E&J Gallo.
Sbragia, who is wine master at Beringer and also winemaker/owner of Sbragia Family Vineyards, is one of a handful of area winemakers who are given access to the grapes grown at Monte Rosso. With his annual allocation, Sbragia makes a killer Cabernet Sauvignon. Other talented winemakers get Syrah, or Zinfandel, off the Monte Rosso ranch. And yesterday they gathered to share wines that they have made in the last year, or two, with Monte Rosso fruit.
What is apparent, after tasting 25 different wines yesterday made from Monte Rosso grapes, is a common thread; these are BIG wines with high alcohol (Be still my heart! 15.5% alcohol is the average of what’s in these bottles!), with intense color and intense flavor. These are wines that grip your palate, scream for attention – and oh yes, get it. These are GIANT wines, regardless of the grape variety. Some are not food-friendly, they are just too hot, too BIG; they would overpower just about any dish with which they might be paired.
Essentially, many of these are trophy wines, which like trophy wives, are enjoyed for their curb appeal and youthful endowments.
Due to mountain elevation (above the fog line), blessedly long hang time in bright seasonal sun, ideal soil, etc., the grapes harvested here tend to have very high sugar levels, which translates into high alcohol once fermented. For Truth in Labeling, maybe they should think about renaming the vineyard – Monster Rosso.
To be fair, very few, if any, vineyards in California can boast the size, age, or breadth of plantings as those at Monte Rosso. And let’s be clear about one other thing – the quality of fruit here is as exceptional as the variety of grapes.
At the tippy-top of the Monte Rosso property – 1240 feet elevation.
Our day at Monte Rosso started with a steep Jeep creep, a rugged, near-vertical, four-wheel climb to the crown of the hillside ranch. The vineyards stretch vertically over a 500-foot range of elevation. Well-defined vineyard blocks are separated by broad dirt roads and the patchwork structure resembles the layout of a new subdivision in American Canyon.
Monte Rosso means “red mountain.” The soil in many blocks is a ruddy red, rich in iron.
Monte Rosso is subdivided into 68 different blocks each planted uniquely with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Sangiovese, Semillon or Folle Blanche (used to make brandy). There are even a few wayward Alicante Bouschet vines in the field, likely planted during Prohibition.
An old, head-pruned, Alicante Bouschet vine, likely planted before Prohibition.
“Alicante is the only red vinifera grape that actually has red juice – all the others have clear juice,” noted Eric Cinnamon, winemaker for Rancho Zabaco. Winemakers appreciate what Alicante brings to a blend; the grape adds an edgy finish and a rich, deep color.
Asked whether Monte Rosso was farmed organically, Eric said, “No. We apply ‘sustainable farming’ practices, which generally could pass Organic standards but we have never gone out to seek official, Certified Organic status.”
Rancho Zabaco winemaker, Eric Cinnamon
History
Monte Rosso is one of America’s oldest vineyards. Did I say old? The first plantings preceded the introduction of electricity to America!
About 39 acres are planted with Zinfandel, the largest variety planted here and quite likely this is the single largest parcel of old-vine Zin in the state (and hence the country), according to Gallo publicists.
While much of this Zinfandel is destined for Gallo’s own labels, including its Rancho Zabaco brand, a lot is sold to Napa Valley and Sonoma County wineries, which, out of pride, and not obligation, label their wines “Monte Rosso Vineyard.” These include such well-known wineries as Charter Oak Winery, Robert Biale Vineyards, and Rosenblum Cellars, all which were represented at yesterday’s tasting.
“Monte Rosso quite simply produces the best Zinfandel, the oldest Zinfandel, the most intense Zinfandel in America,” says Charter Oak Winery winemaker and owner, Robert Fanucci.
(Let’s avoid any potential conflict-of-interest charges; over time, Rob Fanucci has become a very close friend; our families hang out together and we open way too many wines together. It would be illogical to exclude comments about, or by, Rob in this article just because he is a friend; his wines, entered annually in the Bay-area ZAP Festival, in San Francisco, earn high public praise as well as high professional scores – and nothing I say in this story is going to alter what critics and the wine-consuming public already know – Charter Oak Zinfandel, including the cuvee made with Monte Rosso fruit, is jaw-dropping awesome!)
“Without question, Monte Rosso Vineyard is the premier Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel hillside site in Sonoma Valley,” winemaker/owner Richard Arrowood, of Arrowood Vineyards and Winery, has echoed. His Cabernet Sauvignon, made with Monte Rosso fruit, is often one of my top favorite Sonoma-bottled Cabs. It has a tendency to be silken, sensual and sexy.
The mountainside that today includes Monte Rosso Vineyard was initially bought in 1880 by two San Francisco grocers, Emmanuel Goldstein and Benjamin Dreyfus. It took years and the rock-clearing bravado of Chinese laborers to ready the soil for vines. The partners built a gravity-flow winery and started producing wine on their estate within a couple of years.
When the second of the grocers died, Louis M. Martini, of Napa Valley fame, stepped in to protect his interests; he was already buying fruit from this exalted property and knew that unless he bought the vineyards outright, his supply of top-class fruit might get axed. So, in 1938, Monte Rosso became part of the Louis M. Martini universe.
Mike Martini, Master Winemaker, grew up on the Monte Rosso property, which his family owned. No one knows the vineyard’s quirks, its history, or its potential, better than Mike.
“I remember, decades ago, when we had to replant some blocks on the ranch,” recalls Mike Martini, Master Winemaker for Gallo’s Monte Rosso Vineyard. “ We had to do the ‘Reverse Jesus Act,’ as I call it – turn wine into water!”
“We needed water badly to irrigate,” remembers Martini, “and the only guy at the time who had any was a neighbor with a swimming pool. I offered to trade him wine… if he’d give us access to his pool so that we could water our vines!”
Five years ago, E&J Gallo bought Martini’s family winery in Napa Valley, bringing new ownership to Monte Rosso once again.
And now, for something completely different – tasting notes!
Rather than offer tasting notes on each of the 25 wines we sipped and spat yesterday, I think it would be more useful to highlight a few. The following wines, in no particular order, received my top scores, and are wines that I encourage readers to seek out, buy and cellar.
2005 Rancho Zabaco Toreador Zinfandel, Monte Rosso Vineyard
Hats off to Eric Cinnamon for crafting such a stellar Zinfandel. I first tasted this wine from a compromised bottle and didn’t think much of the effort. Then, later in the morning, I tasted from a different bottle and was blown away by the purity of fruit, and the orchestrated sequence of flavors, which build to a tasty crescendo. An awesome wine exhibiting balance, purity and harmony. 93 points.
707-431-5681. www.ranchzabaco.com
2004 Oberschulte Mountain Wines Syrah, Monte Rosso Vineyard
In a blind tasting, this could easily be crowned “the best Shiraz in Australia.” It has harmony, depth and blueness of fruit that are missing in too many of the Syrah-based wines of Australia and somehow, winemaker Mark Oberschulte has managed to make a totally attractive, seductive wine with 15.3% alcohol! A gorgeous achievement, especially considering the vines that produced this fruit are recent replants - only eight years old! 93 points.
707-968-3313. www.obvineyards.com
2005 Stryker Sonoma Zinfandel, Monte Rosso Vineyard
Where have these kids been hiding? This is my first exposure to Stryker Sonoma and based on what I tasted, it will not be my last. Located in the heart of the Alexander Valley, Stryker Sonoma produces a total of about 8,000 cases of different wines, most of them only available through a mailing list. It’s worth joining the list if it’s the only way you can score a 6-pack of this Monte Rosso Zin. In my tasting notes, I applied the unusual adjective “gorgeous” (for a Zin, anyway) to describe this wine. Then I penned it again, “gorgeous.” This is a balanced addictive wine, with huge coffee top-notes at the front end and sweet, harmonious spices at the back end. 93 points.
707-433-1944. www.strykersonoma.com
2005 Charter Oak Winery Zinfandel, Monte Rosso Vineyard
Ok, so shoot me. The winemaker is a close friend. He is a lawyer by day and a winemaker by night. If Rob’s law skills were as focused as his winemaking talents, he would be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. But as that position is taken, Rob will just have to settle for the wine career title “One Helluva Great Winemaker.” Year-in, year-out his Monte Rosso Zin exhibits purity of fruit, balance and engaging spice. And somehow, old Rob pulls the carpet over this high octane fuel, producing a sweet, plum/raisin/prune-driven wine with a pleasing l-o-n-g finish. 93 points.
707-963-2298. www.charteroakwine.com
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