Croix Estate

WINEMAKER'S RECORD

Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, this old vine Zinfandel is opulently scented with baked raspberries, prunes, orange rinds and sweet fruitcake with wafts of Chinese five spice and underbrush. A big, rich, ripe, and exotic wine with a fresh and racy line of spicy, black fruit preserves, fig jam, and dried currants finishing long and chewy.

WAYPOINT GRAPE VARIETY(S): Old Vine Zinfandel

The Vineyards | Monte Rosso Vineyard, Moon Mountain

Sitting at 1300 feet elevation along the western facing slopes of the Mayacamas Mountain Range, the Monte Rosso Vineyard commands significant attention as a historical winegrowing reference point in Sonoma County.

Emanuel Goldstein and his business partner Benjamin Dreyfus were business partners in the grocery business in San Francisco in the early 1880s when they decided to move out to Sonoma Valley and begin cultivating and planting Monte Rosso Vineyard. At the time the land was known as Monte Rosso (red earth), but the vineyard was originally called Mount Pisgah. The first vines were planted in 1886, with some of the original Zinfandel and Semillon planted during that period still producing fruit today. In addition to planting the vineyard, a three-story, vertically integrated, gravity-fed winery was completed and named Mount Peak. Prohibition had taken its toll on the family and the family made the decision to sell to Louis M. Martini in 1938, who had his namesake winery located in St. Helena. Louis planted the first Cabernet vines in 1940 and slowly grew vineyard plantings to 250 acres, with a majority Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Semillon, and Riesling making the composition of the vineyard. Three generations of the Martini family continued to farm the vineyard up until 2002 when the vineyard and Louis M. Martini winery was sold to E. & J. Gallo Vineyards. Today, the vineyard has ten varieties planted including the old Semillon, Zinfandel, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Notable producers utilizing the vineyard fruit are Louis M. Martini, Biale, Rock Wall, Repris, and Carlisle.

The site historically produces wines of high acidity across all varieties due to the volcanic influence and minerality in the homogenous Red Hill Loam soil, the southern facing aspect of the vineyard, and the elevation. This is certainly true of our production Zinfandel from the property.

PRODUCTION ESSENTIALS

Method | 100% Pellenc Destemmed And Gravity Fed Open Top Fermentation, 5-day cold soak, 100% Carbonic Maceration With Hand Punch-Downs

Utilizing Utilizing 100% Native Yeast Primary and Secondary Fermentations.

Aging Regimen | 75% New French Oak

Aging | 16 Months | 6 Barrels