Zinfandel Wines

Our farm in the Russian River Valley has the perfect mesoclimate for growing Zinfandel. It thrives in coastal locations where cool nights and foggy mornings warm up into long, sunny summer afternoons. The Zinfandel grape has an Italian heritage—the Primitovo grape—and took root in California at about the same time as our ancestors did, but the wine is as American as we are. In fact, Zinfandel’s many robust styles are why it’s often called an “American Classic.”

2011 Sonoma County Harvest Fair
Bronze Medal Winners:
2006, 2007, and 2008 Fava Brothers Zinfandel!

Marcucci Farms 2006 Zinfandel

Appellation: Russian River Valley

Varietal Composition: 90% Zinfandel,
   10% combination of Petite Syrah, Alicante Bouschet,
   Carignan, and Golden Chasselas

Cooperage: One-year-old and two-year-old French oak barrels

Alcohol: 14.9%

Release Date: October 2008

Cases Produced: 620

Bottle Size: 750 ml

Price: $28

Characteristics: This wine is garnet red with aromas of cherries, raspberries, and blackberries. It has a smooth palate with juicy cherries and a touch of chocolate. The structure is balanced with smooth tannins across the palate and finish. Drink this delicious Zinfandel through 2013.

Download a technical sheet about this wine.

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See Chef Pairing Recipes for this wine

Winemaker's Notes
Martino and Lorenzo Fava—our ancestors—perfected their Italian field blend for winemaking using 90% Zinfandel and 10% other grapes. When they took ownership of the farm in 1907, they began replacing all planted varieties with the Zinfandel clone and a sprinkling of four others. Their selections, influenced by a neighboring French winemaker, were Petite Syrah, a blue grape, to give depth to the Zinfandel color, Alicante Bouschet to add the luster of a bright ruby, Carignan to smooth out the acid, and Golden Chasselas to enhance the flavor.

In a field blend, the wine blended has been made from grapes grown in the same soil, under the same conditions, rather than gathered from different sources. Of the six acres of Zinfandel grown on Marcucci Farms today, two and a half acres are the original rootstock clone planted by the Fava brothers. Over the years, wine blends in the marketplace have come and gone, but the varieties planted by Martino and Lorenzo have continued to provide wine for our family meals and entertaining. When winemaker Raphaël Brisbois walked the Zinfandel vineyard for the first time with Phillip, he recognized the French influence on the Italian brothers and decided to use the blend for the new release. The Fava Brothers Vineyard 2005 Russian River Valley Zinfandel carries the distinctive flavor of the brothers’ original field blend.