I love the many faces of Zinfandel. In the vineyard the big, gangley clusters produce large berries which all seem to ripen at varying speeds - even within the same cluster. This makes timing the pick for Zinfandel tricky. Some berries may fool you into thinking the fruit is ripe while others are still tart and not flavorful yet. You can do like some folks and just wait until everything is *really* ripe and pick then - but I find those wines tend to be overblown and less interesting. I like Zinfandel when you get some of those floral notes on the nose and a bit of the riper fruit can show through on the palate. Some zip with some zap, if you will. ~ Winemaker, Ryan Prichard