Frog's Leap Zinfandel 2020

A Zinfandel that draws its power from sophistication instead of raw alcohol content. Made in the classic field blend style including significant portions of Petite sirah and Carignane. The 2020 vintage was very dry and moderate, and we entered harvest with a small crop but high hopes for great flavors. Of course, Nature doesn't really give us much rest, and cranked up the heat during harvest. Petite was picked first and cold soaked for over a week, as has been our practice for a few years. High temperatures over Labor Day meant that we finished picking the Zin on September 3rd-123 tons in just 6 days of actual picking. After the Zin came in and began to ferment, the cold-soaked Petite was added in, lowering the temperature, dropping the potential alcohol, and boosting the phenolic profile of the wine. You'll notice the 2020 has an unusually high amount of Carignane, the result of our selecting some of the best sub-sections of old-vine Carignane at Ricetti (the home vineyard of our dry rosé, La Grenouille Rouganté) for red wine. 55% of the wine was aged in small concrete cubes, with the rest aged for 10 months in oak barrel. No new oak whatsoever was used in the 2020 Zinfandel. Ultimately, we love the freshness in this wine, which is especially helped by the large addition of Carignane. While 2020 will forever be remembered for all of its weirdness, I believe this vintage is destined for a long life in the cellar-if we can keep our hands off it.