Mazzocco Winery has been voted Best Zinfandel in the 2011 NorthBay biz readers poll.
This year, for the first time, Mazzocco Winery in Dry Creek Valley is being recognized by NorthBay biz readers for Best Zinfandel.
“The wine is absolutely delicious. That’s the bottom line,” winemaker Antoine Favero says of the honor. “We’ve been getting some really good feedback, most of it is word of mouth. Every year, our following has been growing and growing.”
Favero was born in Champagne and grew up in Peru and Northern California, where he attended UC Davis to study enology. He’s been the winemaker at Mazzocco for seven years, growing the lineup there to a now astounding 21 vineyard-designate Zinfandels, including several from estate-grown fruit.
He adds that many of the people who come into Mazzocco’s Lytton Springs Road tasting room in Healdsburg have never heard of the winery before, but they quickly come to realize they’ve stumbled upon a real find. “They truly enjoy the flavors of our Zin,” Favero notes. “It’s fruit forward, round and very inviting.”
Favero sources from Mazzocco’s own mountain vineyards in Dry Creek, including Smith Orchard, which reaches up to 2,400 feet in elevation, and Warm Springs Ranch, 1,500 feet high, both above the fog line—a blessing in a vintage like last year’s, when heat spikes threatened and burned many Zinfandel vineyards on the valley floor.
He also sources from many nearby vineyards, including Maple, Pony Ranch, Sullivan, Thurow and Serracino, among others.
“The common thread among all [the wines] is my use of native yeast fermentation,” Favero explains. “I let the vineyard speak for itself.”
He also likes to age his Zins in French oak barrels for 18 months, a full third longer than the more usual 12.
“I love the flavors of French oak with Zinfandel,” he explains. “My Zinfandels are very fruit-forward, so I’m looking to introduce structure and inviting flavors like vanilla, mocha and spice. I find many of those flavors in French oak.”
He’s extremely pleased with what he has in the cellar right now from the 2010 vintage, a sentiment echoed by those who came by to taste and buy futures during this spring’s annual Russian River Valley Wine Road Barrel Tasting event. Favero says that this year, Mazzocco sold 35 percent more Zinfandel futures than the previous year, a testament to how well the wine is tasting already in-barrel.
The 2009 vintage, all 21 vineyard-designated Zinfandels, will be released this September, a new high for Mazzocco, which has slowly been acquiring new vineyard sources, a third of them neighbors.
“It’s a really good thing to do business with the people around you,” Favero says. “It’s a win-win.”
