Wine Words From The West Coast – Dry Creek Vineyard

As a good many winegrape growers have discovered, something good can come from the destruction of a vineyard by phylloxera. At Dry Creek Vineyard (3770 Lambert Bridge Rd., Healdsburg) the loss of an 8-1/2 acre vineyard adjacent to the employee parking lot marked an opportunity to try an idea shared by winery owner David Stare; his daughter, winery vice president, Kim Stare Wallace; her husband, winery general manager, Don Wallace; and vineyard manager Duff Bevill.


“We thought originally of putting in Sangiovese,” explains Don, “but Duff had been collecting these old clones from celebrated Zinfandel vineyards, since 1982, so we decided to experiment with grafting old clones onto phylloxera-resistant rootstock to see if the character of the old vines would express itself in wines from the young vines.”

To get the best feel for the influence of soil and climate, half of the vineyard was planted with 101-14 rootstock. The other half was planted with 420A. The rows were skip-planted, alternating every three rows to obtain the most definitive results.

“We expected to have to wait five years for a harvestable crop,” says Don, “but the first vintage in 1997 had all the raspberry and spice you would expect from ‘old vines’ Zin, plus the brightness of youth.” Thirty-one hundred cases were made of the first vintage, a blend of 85% Zinfandel with 15% Petite Sirah. Public response was immediate and gratifying. That first Heritage Clone Zinfandel won three silver medals, a gold, two double golds and a grand champion award at major competitions.

More vineyard has been added and production has grown to 7000 cases. The 2000 harvest yielded 3½ tons per acre, even after thinning clusters twice. “Our intent,” says Don, “was to see if we could replicate the flavors the old vines imparted to the wines. What we have found is that the flavors aren’t exact duplicates, but the desirable ‘old vines’ characteristics are identifiable, sparked with the freshness of youth. We all have great faith that this is what we can do when there are no more ‘old vines’ to supply Zinfandel grapes.”