2017 Zinfandel
Zinfandel was made for the warm days of the Paso Robles AVA. Select southwest-facing hillside acres maximize afternoon sun on a healthy canopy, which provides dappled sunlight on the berries. This mixture of intense sun and deliberate shading is key in bringing out the full potential of this varietal. Winemaker Jim Shumate finds that our Zinfandel acquires exciting attributes from both American and French oak, and his barrel program has produced an incredibly popular wine.
Ripe cherry, pomegranate, and blueberry
This wine’s intense flavors and supple tannins pair with rich meats such as rosemary garlic rack of lamb, roasted duck with grilled vegetables or a hearty beef stew. It is an elegant wine, with low pH, and good acidity. Capable of cellar aging for 5 to 10 years, but is enjoyable now as well.
| Vintage | 2016 |
| Varietal | Zinfandel |
| Varietal Composition | 100% Zinfandel |
| Appellation | Paso Robles |
| Vineyard | Pomar Junction Vineyard |
| Acid | .57 g/L |
| PH | 3.73 |
| Aging | 18 Months in 30% New American & French Oak |
| Residual Sugar | 0.25% |
| Alcohol | 14.60% |
| Volume | 750 ml |
| Bottling Date | 06/08/2018 |
| Cases Produced | 473 |
Made entirely from hand-picked, estate-grown grapes from the hillsides of our vineyard with limestone shale rock soils. The cooling Templeton Gap breezes moderate summer temperatures and combine with our Linne Calado soils for ideal high quality wine grape growing conditions.
Jim Shumate, Winemaker
A native of Southern California, Jim's first wine job was working in the barrel room at Meridian Vineyards, where his budding career was greatly influenced by legendary winemaker Chuck Ortman. After several vintages with Meridian as Senior Lab Technician and Senior Barrel Technician, Jim moved on to become Cellar Master and Consulting Winemaker at Templeton Wine Services (where he first met Pomar Junction CEO, Dana Merrill). From 1999 to 2008, this full-service processing facility afforded Jim the opportunity to work with a wide range of varietals, styles and volumes – from small, high-end lots to several-thousand-case productions.
While making wine for Templeton Wine Services, Jim was also busy working toward a degree in Enology at Cal Poly University. His involvement at Cal Poly eventually led to an invitation to develop and manage the Cal Poly pilot winery which opened in 2008. As Cellar Master, Winemaker, and Lecturer for the new campus winery, Jim instructed students on procedural operations of all winery equipment, demonstration of lab analysis and interpretation of results. Additionally, Jim co-taught advanced enology classes, operated and repaired all winemaking equipment, and established a new bottling line for the campus winery. After several vintages of hands-on teaching from fruit to bottling, Jim took the position of Winemaker at Pomar Junction in July 2011.
He lives in Paso Robles with his wife and children.
