Wine of the week: Pedroncelli, 2019 Dry Creek Valley Sonoma County Zinfandel

Zinfandel, in a sense, speaks many languages.

“What I like about zinfandel is that it can have as many interpretations as you want,” said Montse Reece, the winemaker of Geyserville’s Pedroncelli Winery.

“It’s a very interesting variety and not as easy to work with as people may think. You need to know exactly the kind of style of wine you want to make, and the wine needs to be a fit to your own taste, too.”

Reece is behind our wine of the week winner — the Pedroncelli, 2019 Dry Creek Valley Sonoma County Zinfandel at $24. This zesty zin overdelivers in every way. It has compelling spice of cracked black pepper running through its generous fruit — black cherry, pomegranate and plum. Balanced with bright mineral notes and crisp acid, it has nice length and a spicy finish.

“The 2019 vintage was a good year for zinfandel in Dry Creek Valley,” Reece said. “We had a warm summer without heat spikes, with cooler-than-normal harvest temperatures that delayed the ripening of the grapes. That changed the flavor profile on the zinfandel from warm harvest-season flavors and aromatics to a cooler one. Plenty of fruit flavors and minerality shine in this vintage more than others and really makes this zinfandel a standout.”

The most challenging part of making zinfandel, she said, is pinpointing the pick during harvest.

“To make our balanced claret-style zinfandel, we need to monitor lot by lot ... so that we don’t end up with unripe flavors if we pick too early or, on the other end, a high-alcohol zinfandel with overripe flavors if we pick too late,” Reece explained. “I want zinfandel to be as balanced as possible every vintage.”

The winemaker said she has great respect for the Pedroncelli family and the history of their stake in Sonoma County.

Founders Giovanni and Julia Pedroncelli purchased the property, including 25 acres of vineyards, a shuttered winery and a home, in 1927. Spanning four generations, the family now farms 115 acres, and their flagship wines are zinfandel and cabernet sauvignon. They make a total of 18 different wines, including chardonnay, pinot noir, sauvignon blanc, merlot, sangiovese and port. There have been three winemakers over 95 years. Preceding Reece, there was Giovanni, followed by his son, John.

Reece, 49, is from Catalonia, Spain, home to a culture that embraces wine on the table every night at dinner.

Reece studied agricultural engineering and earned a specialty in enology in Tarragona’s University Rovira i Virgili in Spain. She graduated in 1998 and came to the United States as an intern at Gloria Ferrer. She later worked at other Sonoma County wineries — Rodney Strong and Ferrari Carano — before joining Geyserville’s Pedroncelli Winery in 2007. She was named winemaker in 2015.

“Making wine is an art, a craft, but it is also a science,” Reece said. “You need to be passionate about what you are making, but also you need to know why all that happens. Wine is a big part of my life, and I wouldn’t want to be anything but a winemaker.”

You can reach Staff Writer Peg Melnik at peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5310.