UC Davis and the Zinfandel Advocates & Producers (ZAP) collaborate on the Heritage Vineyard Project, an initiative designed to identify, clean and maintain a variety of productive, diverse, and high-quality Zinfandel vine selections. In 2014, four new Zinfandel selections were named by UC Davis and ZAP, and the Moore Vineyard cuttings were one of them. The press release gave some history of the Moore Vineyard.
"Planted in 1905, the R.W. Moore Vineyard remains one of the oldest vineyards in the Napa Valley Coombsville appellation, still flourishing among all the modern-era plantings. Productive for more than 100 years, this vineyard has thrived through a series of stewards, beginning with seafarer Pleasant Ashley Stevens and currently under the watchful care of Bill Moore and his nephew-in-law, Mike Hendry.
In 2009, Moore’s family, Mike and Molly Hendry, decided to start their own winemaking project and asked if Robert Biale Vineyards would like to share the grapes with them. Bob Biale could not have been happier. "The wine from here displays a true sense of place—an identity that is due to its well-drained foothills soil, cool climate, modest rainfall, and good genetics. Small berries, thick grape skins, low yields, and slow ripening are the keys to growing great Zinfandel, and these sturdy old vines deliver it all," said Biale.
The vineyard, with its ten acres of old head-trained vines and prominent red barn, is as iconic a setting as it gets in California viticulture. Zinfandel represents about 95% of the vineyard, with Gamay, Mourvedre, Carignane and Petite Sirah making up the rest. Given the age of the vines, well-draining gravelly loam soils and dry-farming, the vineyard yields an exceptionally low 1.5 tons per acre, leading to expressive wines with intense blackberry fruit, earthy complexity and natural balance that only come with age."
We are delighted to be a part of this historic vineyard and project. We believe in the legacy of high quality Zinfandel in the Napa Valley and are so pleased that the Moore Vineyard was recognized as an important part of that legacy!
WineBusiness.com, "Zinfandel Advocates & Producers Announces Four New Named Zinfandel Selections from ZAP Heritage Vineyard Project," 3 December 2014