Zinfandels

Old Vine Mendocino Zinfandel is a treasure. Grown on the benchlands and slopes of mountainsides — this 60 plus year old vine Zinfandel was named for these wild- looking vines and also for the uninoculated, or “wild,” yeast ferment that was used to create it.  It takes a lot of effort to tame this wild fruit, but it is worth all the trouble. Wild Thing is dangerously good!   Remember – you are what you drink….

Old Vine Mendocino Zinfandel is a treasure. Grown on the benchlands and slopes of mountainsides — this wild-looking old vine Zinfandel offers fruit that winemaker Carol Shelton, with her 35+ years of experience and creativity, has transformed into a wine that is concentrated yet soft, creamy and full of flavor.  Our Wild Thing Zinfandel was named for these wild- looking vines and also for the uninoculated, or wild, yeast ferment that was used to create it.  It takes a lot of effort to tame this wild fruit, but it is worth all the trouble.

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Wine Spectator Top 100 Wines of 2014, #89

90 Points - Wine Spectator, May 31, 2014 & 2 GOLD Medals

We chose to honor Charlie Piazza’s half century of growing in Lodi by making an anagram of his name to christen this classic old-style Zin.  These gnarly head-trained vines deliver brilliant wild cherry jam on a milk chocolate-marshmallow background.  S’more, please!

We christened the Monga Zin® as we stumbled while saying its appellation too many times, probably after having too much of this HUMONGOUS mouthful of fruit and rich milk chocolate.

Every once in a while, a twist of fate can deal a quirky hand, and with a stroke of magic it can become an enchanting experience.  Black Magic™ Late Harvest Zinfandel conjures up a charming finale for a delicious meal—lusciously jammy and sweet, it complements many foods from savory cheese plates to decadent chocolate desserts.  Abracadabra!     <Extremely Limited Production>

September is Good Karma month at Carol Shelton Wines. For every bottle of 2014 Karma Reserve purchased this month Carol will donate a dollar to one of her favorite charities. 

It’s Karma:  if you do good things, something good will happen. Our Karma Reserve red blend is a complex wine that is both bold and fruity, brimming with dark fruit flavors and deep toasted oak. We pass along this good Karma to you ….now pay it forward!

92 Points - California Grapevine, August, 2017

91 Points - Wine Spectator, December 15, 2016

90 Points - Connoisseurs' Guide to CA, September, 2016

The name for our reserve wine, Rocky Reserve^®, comes from the deep red, rocky soils

of the Florence Vineyard, 1400 feet above Lake Sonoma and Dry Creek Valley. 

This is a more elegant and restrained Zin, worthy of five or more years of cellaring,

though it is packed with fragrant black and blue berry fruits.

The name of the PeaceLand Vineyard comes from the translation of its owners’ German last name—Friedland.  The unique “tall-head” trained vines are planted in a wild fantasia of settings—steep hillsides, amidst groves of bay and live-oak, most with stunning vistas of the city of Santa Rosa far below.  It was the three separate clones Zinfandel that drew us to try them out…and we are hooked!

Mancini Vineyard was planted in 1922 in the old world method of mixed planting. There are vines of  Zinfandel, Carignane, Alicante Bouschet, Petite Sirah, Grand Noir, Valdiguié, Abouriou, and other unidentified varieties in this amazing old vineyard. A true field blend, Mancini Zin is as interesting and complex to taste as the vineyard itself!