2002 Edge Hill Butala Vineyard Zinfandel

Edge Hill is a tribute to one of Napa’s most historic wineries from a veteran of the fine food and wine industry, Leslie Rudd. Rudd grew up in Kansas learning the wine and spirits business from his father, who built the state’s largest wine and spirits importer. Leslie Rudd later branched out into the specialty foods business and acquired Dean & Deluca, the iconic New York-based gourmet food purveyor, which he turned into a national business and eventually sold. In Napa Valley Rudd started Rudd Winery and opened other food and wine businesses, including restaurants. Rudd originally bought the Edge Hill property as a home for himself and his wife, but decided to turn it back into a working vineyard. The property produced wine commercially from 1867 to 1907. Edge Hill’s 5.5 acres of vineyards were replanted with a mix of the varietals that in the 19th century were used to make blends. Edge Hill grows Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Mourvedre, Grenache, Carignane and other grapes to make what Edge Hill calls a “mixed black” wine. Such field blends were common in the 19th and early 20th centuries and today innovative producers are once again offering them. Edge Hill also makes Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, White Mixed Field Blends, and other wines. Its very limited production is generally available only through a mailing list.

Napa Valley AVA is the most famous winemaking region in the United States and one of the most prestigious in the world. With nearly 43,000 acres of vineyards and more than 300 wineries, it is the heart of fine wine production in the United States. Winemaking started in Napa in 1838 when George C. Yount planted grapes and began producing wine commercially. Other winemaking pioneers followed in the late 19th century, including the founders of Charles Krug, Schramsberg, Inglenook and Beaulieu Vineyards. An infestation of phylloxera, an insect that attacks vine roots, and the onset of Prohibition nearly wiped out the nascent Napa wine industry in the early 20th century. But by the late 1950s and early 1960s Robert Mondavi and other visionaries were producing quality wines easily distinguishable from the mass-produced jug wines made in California’s Central Valley. Napa Valley’s AVA was established in 1983, and today there are 16 sub-appellations within the Napa Valley AVA. Many grapes grow well in Napa’s Mediterranean climate, but the region is best known for Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay is also very successfully cultivated, and about 30% of the AVA’s acreage is planted to white grapes, with the majority of those grapes being Chardonnay,

Zinfandel is a black-skinned grape, but 85% of the wine produced is made into a rosy “White Zinfandel.” Red Zin is far more complex and bold, while still being light-bodied. It grows in popularity as winemakers continue to experiment with new styles and blends.