Reserve Club
April 2025

2022 Bedrock Evangelho Vineyard Heritage

I first met this winemaker, Morgan Twain Peterson, on my first day at the Master of Wine seminar in Napa in 2008 when we were both first year students sitting next to each other for the introduction to the program. I noticed his last name and asked if he was any relation to Joel Peterson, the founder and legendary winemaker of Ravenswood. It turns out he is Joel’s son, so I was able to relate that I had met Joel many times, including a wild tasting in 1992 at his original winery. My wife still comments about Joel climbing all over the stacked barrels with a wine thief extracting samples for us to try of his legendary, old vine Zinfandels. Joel sold Ravenswood to Constellation in 2001, who later sold it to Gallo in 2019, and thanks to the sale Morgan was able to travel the world and make wine at many of the various Constellation estates. Eventually he returned to California and launched Bedrock Wine Company, picking up where Joel left off making single vineyard Zinfandel wines.

At the heart of the Bedrock Wine Company is Morgan’s desire to preserve the great old vineyards of California that were planted in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of these centurion sites are planted to a mix of different grape varieties, typically dominant in Zinfandel, which was popular with the Italian settlers in Northern California after the gold rush years. The problem is that Zinfandel is not very popular any longer and it grows in the same conditions that are perfect for Cabernet Sauvignon. Since the latter is very popular the owners of the vineyards want to tear out the old vines and plant Cab instead. Morgan, who is now joined by his business partner Chris Cottrell, seek out these vineyards and buy the grapes at Cabernet prices in order to preserve these vinous pieces of history. Since the vineyards are often less than 75% Zinfandel, the minimum requirement for labeling as a varietal wine, they call these their Heritage Series giving them the vineyard name instead. In the fall of 2024 I tasted with Chris and was very impressed with their lineup and decided that the Evangelho should anchor the selections this quarter.

There are several 19th century Zinfandel plantings in California but in the past decade the Evangelho Vineyard has become one of the most famous. Originally planted in the 1880’s by Portuguese settlers, it sits at the edge of the Sacramento River delta in Contra Costa County. The old gnarly vines are self-rooted, meaning no root stock, in a 40 foot deep bed of sand that was once the California coastline millions of years ago. These old vines are dry farmed, meaning no irrigation, but thanks to the sandy soils the vines are able to burrow deep to find water. While generally considered a warm growing region, this part of Contra Costa benefits from cool breezes that come in from the San Francisco Bay, which extends the growing season and allows for a long, slow ripening of the grapes. The wine Bedrock produces from this site is a true vineyard blend, a mix of roughly 78% Zinfandel and 16% Mourvèdre, with the balance being Carignan, Alicante Bouschet, Grand Noir, Palomino, and even grapes from a single, huge Clairette Blanche vine. 

I will admit I do not drink a lot of Zinfandel but taste quite a few and they generally fall into two camps; overripe, clunky and a little sweet, or surprisingly balanced and spicy. I found the Evangelho to be in the balanced camp but I still recommend decanting it for a half hour and chilling it to cellar temperature. Doing this releases a bouquet of fresh raspberries, cooked blueberries, black licorice, tamarind paste, tangerine peel and graham crackers. On the palate it remains lively, with moderate fruit framed by tannins that are present but not overbearing. Drink 2025-2035 with smoked brisket, carnitas or a pineapple and brown sugar marinated ribeye steak.

2021 AXR Proprietary Red

Although he is not a well known winemaker with consumers, Swiss born Jean Hoefliger enjoys the respect of other winemakers in Napa Valley like few others. After stints at Château Lynch-Bages in Bordeaux, Meerlust in Stellonbosch, South Africa and Newton Vineyards and Alpha & Omega in Napa, Jean’s body of work speaks for itself. That is why when the owners of AXR approached him about running this small project he jumped at the chance to work with this historic vineyard located just north of St. Helena in Napa Valley.

The AXR winery is the creation of four wine loving friends, Don Van Laeken, Kelly Trevethan, Mark Schratz and winemaker Jean Hoefliger. He partnered with the founding partners of AXR specifically because of their estate vineyard, V. Madrone, which is planted on AxR1. This 3.5 acre vineyard located north of the town of St. Helena is a historic property with a history of winemaking that stretches back to the 1880s. AxR1 is the root stock that was touted by UC Davis in the 1970s as being superior for volume and quality but unfortunately it is not impervious to phylloxera. This root louse that is originally from the east coast of the US spends a portion of its life cycle underground feeding on the roots of certain plants, particularly grape vines. Indigenous American vines have developed resistance to this pest but European vines did not. When plant collectors in Europe carried American grape vines over to their specimen gardens in the late 1800s the little buggers hitched a ride and spread rapidly, nearly destroying the entire European wine industry. The same issue happened in California twice, once in the 1860s when the vines of European origin were self rooted; and then in the 1980s when everyone had planted on AxR1. Only vines growing in sandy soils can survive phylloxera because this prevents the critters from spreading. 

For their flagship wine they actually use vineyards in three parts of Napa, Oak Knoll, Yountville and Coombsville. While legally there is enough Cabernet Sauvignon in this to carry a varietal name, they opt for the Proprietary Red designation to give them flexibility for future bottlings. In the fabulous 2021 vintage they used 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Malbec, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot in the final blend. Decant this wine for a half hour before serving and you are rewarded with a rich nose of fresh black raspberry, dried black cherry, cocoa powder, soy sauce and anise cookie. The oak is a little obvious on the palate, wrapping up the deep fruit with a dusty edge that shows this wine will need a few years to fully reveal itself. Drink 2028-2036 with braised short ribs or herb crusted lamb chops.

2021 Matthews Cuvée

I met the namesake for this winery, Matt Loso more than two decades ago when he was touring Florida with a group of Pacific Northwest winemakers. The winery was new at the time but Matt was very well respected and there was a lot of buzz about their initial releases. Life being what it is, Matt had some personal issues and about fifteen years ago sold out his interest to his investors, the Otis family, who operate the winery today. During most of that period the wines were respected but not outstanding but that all changed in 2021. The Otis’ hired the winemaking team, Alex Stewart and Hal Iverson, away from Quilceda Creek right before harvest, and their impact was immediately for the better. My recent tasting of the entire lineup was eye opening, earning this bottle a spot in this release.

Like many Washington State producers they source their grapes from across several different parts of the Columbia Valley, in this case Horse Heaven Hills, Red Mountain, and Royal Slope AVAs. The combination of these different growing regions builds texture and dimension in a category where it can be hard to find uniqueness. For the 2021 harvest Alex and Hal worked with the cards they were dealt, which is an excellent vintage, but subsequent vintages they have begun working with the growers to achieve the level of success they built at Quilceda Creek.

Under Alex and Hal the winery produces the full range of varietal wines and two blends, Claret and Cuvée. The Claret is Cabernet Sauvignon dominant and the Cuvée is inspired by the Right Bank properties of Bordeaux, so Merlot heavy. In my tasting the Merlot was the clear star and a perfect example of why I feel this is the most important grape grown in Washington State. The final blend was 67% Merlot, 27% Cabernet Franc, and 8% Malbec, with aging taking place in 40% new French oak for 19 months. They produced 1451 cases of this vintage.

Decant this wine for up to an hour before serving and chill to cellar temperature. This wine certainly shows the power of this variety in Washington State, with an intoxicating nose of candied cherry, blackberry jam, milk chocolate, cedar, and allspice. The power is also apparent on the palate, as this wine shows a stunning density and texture that shows Merlot can make big wines too. Drink 2024-2031 with a seared New York strip or crown roast of pork.