Martinelli Giuseppe & Luisa Zinfandel '23

From 130-year-old head-trained vines in the Russian River Valley, this heritage Zinfandel pours an opaque purple-black with ruby rim. The profound nose weaves together brambly blackberry, cracked pepper, and molasses with emerging notes of violet and dark chocolate. The palate offers remarkable density - flavors of blueberry compote, espresso bean, and roasted game unfold with velvety tannins that earned 96-98 point scores. At 15.8% alcohol from this hot vintage, the wine carries its weight effortlessly thanks to perfect phenolic ripeness and 5.9 g/L TA. Aged 16 months in American oak (35% new), this needs decanting for braised short ribs or will reward 5-7 years of cellaring.