In a typical year, Navarro intentionally produces more wine than we bottle; this means we can bottle more in the better vintages and less wine in poorer vintages. Routinely, when we are selecting a cuvée to bottle, we will only use portions of several good wines to produce the desired number of cases; leaving us with good wine with no home. The "leftover" red wines come from grapes grown in respected vineyards and the juice was fermented and aged at Navarro as if it was going into a varietal bottling. The largest portions of this cuvee is composed of 27% Zinfandel, along with 17% old-vine Valdiguié, both from John Young's ancient gnarled vines near Talmage.
Navarro's Harvest 2008, Naama Mualn cleaning an open-top fermentor. ![[above]](/images/buttons/arrow_up.gif) We ferment red wine in open top fermentors since one of the main tasks is to keep the skins, which rapidly rise to the top, wet with juice. The other main task is cleaning up and, like the kitchen, cleaning takes as much time as cooking.
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January 2008. Michele and John (deceased) Young pruning their Zin vines.
Some additional Zinfandel and all of the Cabernet Sauvignon (22%) was grown at Eaglepoint's windswept hillside vineyards, 1000 feet above Talmage. 12% was from Pinot Noir grapes grown at Navarro vineyards; this is the only portion that came from vines not considered old-timers. 9% percent Carignane, 5% Grenache and 1% Cinsault complete this complex blend. Zinfandel's wild blackberry and Cabernet's cherry-olive flavors dominate the smoky background from the 2008 vintage and there's a hint of vanilla from aging in French oak barrels. Silver Medal winner.
We're tired of looking at it!
For a limited time, Indian Creek Old Vine Red is only $5/bottle
Full case orders qualify for One-Cent Shipping but no further discounts apply.
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