I received a birthday card recently that said "women age like fine wine, the older they get the better they are." Of course, this is absolutely true and at Trinitas Cellars we can back this age old adage up with our Ancient Vine Wines. Trinitas puts a new spin on this claim and says "The older the VINES get, the better they are."
Trinitas, the Latin word for Trinity emotes the natural elements of Sun, Soil and Humanity. This philosophy of wine making allows the unique creation of a hand crafted wine renown for its intense fruit flavors and unique complexity. Much of which can be traced back to the vines used for production. These vines are known as Old Vines, Gnarly Vines, Old World Vines, Twisted vines or even Old Timer Vines! Call it what you want to call it, these vines are an increasingly hard to find treasure that bear fruit that develop into the most rich, intense and multi-dimensional wines in Northern California. Such rare and unique fruit is a product of time, devotion, and patience as each vine must be over fifty years old and requires special soils and climates. Typically needing a warmer drier climate these vines require little water. The final product is a very small berry and overall cluster of fruit, which reduces in yield annually.
In addition to being rare and difficult to find as they are on a constant decline, the source of this rare vine also deserves special mention. After surviving the phlloxera infestation in the 1800s these vines were transported to California for introduction to our unique soils only to be tragically brought to the edge of disappearance during the prohibition. Farmers and Winemakers were impressed that as all counties went dry, their vineyards never did. Nearly 100 years later these natural wonders have found their way to our cellars. With our vines averaging ripe old ages – no pun intended – of 85 to 125 years. Our hand-crafted Mataro is from a 120 year old vineyard and our single Vineyards Zinfandel comes from Bigalow Vineyard, planted over 125 years ago.
Our entire Ancient Vine Portfolio comes from the teeny tiny intense berries from Contra Costa, a county that is equal distance between Sacramento to the northeast and San Francisco to the west. The ancient vineyards sit east of the bank where the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River join and dump into the San Francisco bay. Sadly, over the past several years many of the vineyards have been ripped up or re-planted. In the face of this struggle for preservation begins the rare Trinitas Old Vine Mouvedre, Carginane, Zinfandel, and Black Malvasia. This ancient vine yields an amazing reward as these grapes come into crush. With deep roots grabbing minerals other vines cannot, these berries sit low to the ground and hang longer on the vine giving the pH and acid more time to balance creating a very intense concentration of flavors and a higher sugar yield. Complementing an already amazing berry is the final product of this blend revealing a smoother, longer finish and an amazing floral note.
Sounds like good information, but how do these wines compare to Franzia?
Posted by: Travis | March 21, 2008 at 07:26 AM