Winemaker Bruce Patch was a legend in the Los Angeles music business before he made his way north to Sonoma in the late 1990’s. He channeled his music promotion skills into a thriving distribution business that represented several independent wineries throughout Sonoma County. This inevitably led Bruce to set up his own shop with Wine Guerrilla. Under the Bruce Patch label, he has taken an heirloom clone of the Zinfandel varietal and brought it back to its Italian roots – Primitivo. Primitivo, from southern Italy, and Zinfandel, often coined as, “America’s grape,” actually share a DNA fingerprint with Croatia’s ancient Crljenak Kastelanski varietal. Over the centuries, Italian immigrants brought Primitivo clippings over from their native Italy and planted them in the warm, California soil as early as 1832. The grape has found one of its most beautiful expressions in the warmer pockets of Sonoma Valley AVA where the vineyards enjoy near constant sunshine with just the right amount of Pacific-influenced fog coupled with moderating cool nights that are ideal for pitch-perfect phenolic ripeness in the historic grape.

 

This Primitivo is derived from the certified organic Rose Vineyard in the Sonoma Valley AVA, where the vines are rooted in stream bedrocks and alluvial soil from the Kenwood wetlands. The hand harvested and sorted fruit is destemmed without sulfur dioxide at crush. The wine is fermented, racked only once and topped off in barrel every three weeks where it aged in 25% new American oak for thirty months. The restrained usage of new oak allows for a pure expression of Primitivo that is an authentically pure snapshot of California history.

 

This wine has a pale ruby core with a hint of garnet on the rim. The nose enthralls the senses with aromas of ripe berries, including dried strawberry, red cherry, and wild raspberry over soft, wet rose petals, forest floor, white pepper, wild herbs, white tea, sandalwood and crushed exotic spices. The palpable energy and thriving aromatic life motivate sip after satisfying sip. The rich palate boasts incredibly soft tannins and luscious wild berry fruit layers into wild herbs, fresh flowers, and earthy dried clay and exotic spices. This lovely Primitivo is more akin to a California Pinot Noir than typical Zinfandel. Decanting is unnecessary; simply serve this wine at 60 degrees. We prefer Burgundy stems, but Bordeaux stems perform well too. For an inspired pairing that embraces the beautiful fruit in this wine, prepare this recipe for Juniper Berry Crusted Rack of Venison.