Wine of the week: Carlisle, 2020 Zinfandel, Russian River Valley, Carlisle Vineyard

The Carlisle Vineyard is the Little Italy of vineyards, an enclave of Italian varietals like Malvasia Bianca.

“Planted in 1927, the vineyard is truly one of the great old-vine vineyards of Sonoma County,” said vintner Mike Officer. “The old vines (were) planted by Italian immigrant Alcide Pelletti.”

Our wine of the week zinfandel is a standout, and it comes from this vineyard. The Carlisle, 2020 Zinfandel, Russian River Valley, Carlisle Vineyard, 15%, $54, is striking. It has layered aromas and flavors of raspberry, cherry, blackberry and savory herbs. And its undercurrent of spice plays up cracked black pepper. It’s impressive.

“When many wine consumers think Russian River Valley, the first varieties that pop into their heads are pinot noir and chardonnay,” Officer said. “What they might not realize is that there are some exceptional old-vine zinfandel vineyards in the Russian River Valley producing bright, vibrant wines that are extremely food-friendly. … And drinking an old-vine wine provides an opportunity to drink history.”

Zinfandel has an intriguing past, Carlisle said.

“Although zinfandel originated in Croatia, it immigrated to California by way of New England and found a new home,” he said. “It is a truly a fully naturalized citizen of California now.”

The benchmark for varietals like pinot noir and chardonnay is Burgundy, France, Officer said. But when it comes to zinfandel, the benchmark is California.

“That makes zinfandel pretty unique and special in my mind,” he said.

What most people would find most surprising about Officer’s winemaking, he said, is the small size of his operation.

“I think what would surprise people most isn’t so much anything about me but the fact that Carlisle Winery is just four people,” he said. “It’s my wife, Kendall; my son, Riley, who’s our cellar master; Jay Maddox (the day-to-day winemaker); and me. People are always quite surprised when I answer the phone.”

Officer took a detour before finding his way to the wine world. A software developer for 20 years, he started tinkering with home winemaking in 1987.

“Our garage winemaking grew and grew and by 1997, we were up to 300 cases a year,” he said. “That’s when Kendall and I decided to launch Carlisle (Kendall’s maiden name) commercially in 1998.”

As for the winning zinfandel, Officer said it’s nothing short of a miracle because the 2020 vintage was marred by the Walbridge and Glass fires.

The vintner said he and his wife decided they wouldn’t bottle any wine that didn’t meet or exceed their high expectations.

“We’ve worked too hard building our reputation to jeopardize it by bottling smoke-tainted wine,” Officer said. “In the end, about 50% of our fruit was not picked. Two small lots that we did pick and ferment were dumped down the drain. But what remained was delicious and free of any smoke taint. I’m extremely proud of the 2020s that we bottled.”

You can reach Wine Writer Peg Melnik at 707-521-5310 or peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pegmelnik.