The 2004 Paso Robles Zinfandel is produced from grapes grown on two of our vineyards on the west side of Paso Robles.   The first is Cristalla Ranch which surrounds the main winery on San Marcos Road.   The vines from this vineyard are from an old clone that was grafted for Rabbit Ridge.   The second vineyard is located on Live Oak Road in the hills on the north side of Highway 46 West.   This vineyard is one of the highest in Paso Robles, located at 1,600 feet elevation.   In addition, this vineyard has large amounts of limestone in the soil with an average soil pH of approximately 8.

The 2004 California growing season was much like the 2003 growing season in Europe: it started early and finished quickly.   Because of this we added a judicious amount of Petite Sirah for more color and body.   The wine was held on the skins for an extended period of time and then pressed into American and French Oak barrels where it stayed until the end of 2005 when it was bottled with only a very light filtration.   As with all our wines, this Zinfandel is all natural acid, which produces much rounder and smoother wines than those produced with acid additions.

This Zinfandel has the typical Rabbit Ridge jammy and spicy character with pronounced blackberry and raspberry overtones.   It is big bodied with soft tannins and a round finish.   This 2004 wine has the best chemistry numbers of any Zinfandel we have ever bottled: Alcohol = 15.4% - Total Acid = 0.776 - pH = 3.54 - Brix at Harvest = 25.4.