Zinfandel is the only true American grape - like all Vitis vinifera wine grapes, it's not native to this country (it's of Croatian origin), but nowhere else has it made world-class wine, and only America has truly embraced it as its own. And nowhere else in America are conditions better suited to producing superior Zinfandel than Pezzi King's home: the Dry Creek Valley.

The grape is thin-skinned and late-ripening, with compact clusters. It needs warmth and a long growing season to fully ripen, yet a climate too hot leads to raisiny, overripe fruit. On Dry Creek's steep hillsides where the Pezzi King estate is situated, cool nighttime temperatures and temperate ocean breezes keep the grapes in ideal balance.

Once the grapes are harvested, they are cold crushed, destemmed, and undergo a "cold soak", which extracts color and flavor before fermentation begins while retaining the grape's freshness. After fermentation, the wine undergoes malolactic fermentation in stainless steel tanks before being aged in French and American oak for up to eighteen months.

Pezzi King produces three Zinfandels that are available nationwide: Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley Old Vines Zinfandel and our Estate Zinfandel, made from a composite of some of the Valley's best vineyards.

Winning bidder receives a gorgeous bottle of Old Vine Zinfandel.