A California Winery Blog

Santa Barbara Winery 2007 California ZCS
Our first ZCS was created in 1998 when Winemaker Bruce McGuire called the staff together to taste red wine blends centered around a Zinfandel from vines that were more than 40 years old. Every one’s favorite was a blend of that Zinfandel with a Carignane and a Sangiovese.

Bruce finetuned the percentages and released 800 cases of this new wine in 1999 for sale in Santa Barbara. Soon, we were receiving calls from all over the country looking for this obscure blend; a happy occurrence that has led to this eighth vintage of ZCS. In this synergistic blend, the Zinfandel from 48 year old vines lends the jammy fruit quality to the wine, the Carignane from 83 year old vines adds density and finish, and the Sangiovese from younger vines in San Luis Obispo shows off the cherry aromatics and flavors.

Bruce buys the Zinfandel and Carignane from a vineyard in Lodi and the Sangiovese from San Miguel; of course both vineyards farm to his standards. Oak aging takes place in neutral barrels so as not to disturb the full fruit quality of ZCS. This is a very versatile, food friendly wine made to match a wide range of occasions and meals.