Twenty-Seven Years Growing
TASTING NOTES:
2024 Pedroncelli Rosé, Bushnell Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley: “The fresh aromas of rose petals and spice are followed by strawberry, raspberry, melon and a touch of citrus. It is nicely balanced with round and refreshing fruit flavors accented by crisp acidity. Our Rosé is made to be enjoyed upon release.” (91 Points, Wine Enthusiast; 90 Points & Gold Medal, Experience Rosé Wine Competition; Gold Medal, Sonoma County Harvest Fair) (AbV 13.9%, pH 3.50, TA 0.585g/100ml)
VARIETALS: 100% Zinfandel from Bushnell Vineyard, 27 years old on St. George Rootstock.
BARRELS: 100% free run and pressed grapes. Must was fermented with selected yeast in a temperature-controlled stainless-steel tank at 58°F until dry. Soil: Manzanita Gravelly Silt Loam.
PAIRS WITH: N/A
THAT REMINDS ME OF: Twenty-seven years of patient growth.
There’s something about that detail — Bushnell Vineyard, 27 years old — that stops you in your tracks. Twenty-seven years. That vineyard was planted around 1997, which means someone put rootstock into gravelly soil the same year a child started first grade. While they were learning to tie their shoes and losing teeth, those vines were doing their own version of the same thing: establishing roots, reaching awkwardly in every direction, figuring out how deep they needed to go to find what they needed.
Think about all the things that don’t survive 27 years. Friendships that dissolve. Businesses that fold. Neighborhood restaurants that become parking lots. But a vineyard—when someone tends it, when someone believes in it—just quietly deepens. The roots push further into that silt loam, the trunk thickens, the canopy learns the wind patterns. By year 27, a vine isn’t young anymore, but it isn’t old either. It’s in that sweet spot of maturity where it knows exactly what it’s doing but still has something to prove.
Maybe that’s why vineyard ages are so moving. They’re a record of patience, of someone’s decision—nearly three decades ago—to plant something they wouldn’t fully benefit from for years. It’s an act of faith in the future, in seasons not yet lived.
