Medium garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Zinfandel Monte Rosso features baked berries, cherry cordial, spice cake and potpourri on the nose with touches of mandarin peel and fragrant earth. Full-bodied, refreshingly tart and with a chewy backbone, it is wonderfully opulent and spicy on the palate with a long, earthy finish.

One of the great, iconic vineyards of Northern California is the Monte Rosso site owned by the Gallos. The 2015 Zinfandel Monte Rosso Vineyard is amazing. Peterson was saying that it comes from a steep westward-facing vineyard planted mostly with Zinfandel, but also includes tiny quantities of Alicante Bouschet and Grand Noir. Dark, complex, powerful and muscular with briary blackberry and black raspberry fruit, savory roasted herbs, steak tartare, pepper and forest floor, this is a wine of great intensity, richness and length. This is a beauty to drink over the next 10-15+ years.

Another spectacular wine from an iconic vineyard is the 2014 Zinfandel Monte Rosso. This is from a huge vineyard of nearly 350 acres with lots of different parcels and the famous red soils. The dense ruby/purple 2014 Monte Rosso, which is largely Zinfandel, shows terrific, briary black raspberry and black cherry fruit, superb concentration, licorice, Mediterranean herbs, meat, earth, and a peppery, spicy finish. There is a touch of Alicante Bouschet in the blend, but the Zinfandel is the dominant varietal. Virtually all of this wine is made from dry-farmed vineyards planted in the late 1800s, and Morgan Twain-Peterson believes it can last for decades, although most of us will never be able to defer gratification from this full-bodied, ripe, heady wine that long.

From the Gallo-owned vineyard of Monte Rosso, the 2013 Zinfandel Monte Rosso is spectacular. Coming from the red iron soils of old-vine Zinfandel plots (some of which date back to the 1890s), this blend of 95% Zinfandel and 5% Alicante Bouchet was aged in one-third new French oak. It exhibits a deep purple color, full body, and notes of briary, wild strawberry, cherry and raspberry fruit intermixed with notions of tar, earth, pepper and charcuterie. This complex, stunningly drinkable beauty should continue to offer decadent pleasure for 5-7 years.

Even older vines have produced the 2012 Zinfandel Monte Rosso. This large, relatively high elevation (900 feet) vineyard was planted in 1886. Aged in 35% new French oak, this cuvee is another big, muscular Zinfandel at 15.2% alcohol. Ripe kirsch, black currant, underbrush, pepper, loamy soil and a hint of briery mountain fruit emerge from this deep, full-bodied, rich Zinfandel. It should drink well for a decade. Morgan Twain Peterson, the son of Ravenswood's Joel Peterson, has hit the wine scene with a bang, producing vibrant, personality-filled, delicious wines from extremely old vines and, in some cases, virtually unknown grapes, such as Aubun, Teredalgo, Trousseau Noir, Le Noir, Mission, Trousseau Gris, Grand Noir and Abouriou, as well as Zinfandel, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Grenache, Carignan, Alicante Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Tempranillo. Many of these sites are heritage terroirs from the ancient past which, until Peterson's arrival, were largely ignored or were co-mingled into some innocuous industrial blend. Bedrock's portfolio is filled with exciting wines. The 2012s reviewed herein will all be bottled and released by Fall, 2014. Tel. (707) 343-1478