Zinfandel 2019, Bernier Zinyard

Why call it a Zinyard? Originally, long time Dry Creek Valley farmers Paul and Yael Bernier planted only Zinfandel on the hillside behind their house on Canyon Road on the northern end of the valley. To honor the traditions of many of the early Italian immigrant growers, as well as enhance the Zinfandel, they later planted a small block of Petite Sirah alongside the Zin, just above the row of peach and pear trees we sometimes enjoy while sampling the vines. Although the Zinfandel vines were planted in 1990, the Bernier Zinyard makes old-time growers feel they are walking into the past when they stroll among the vines. It is a traditional dry-farmed, head-trained (non-trellised) vineyard with Italo Sbragio’s old clone Zin grafted on to St. George rootstock. This combination of influences embodies the very roots of Dry Creek Valley viticulture and reflects Peterson Winery’s values of savoring and embracing time-honored, traditional farming.