Robert Biale Black Chicken Napa Zinfandel 2018

Aldo Biale used to help his mother make ends meet by selling the family’s bootleg Zinfandel, along with eggs and other farm produce, back in the 1940s. When customers rang in their orders over the open phone line they shared with their neighbours, the words Black Chicken were code for a jug of Aldo’s secret Zin. In 1991 Bob Biale, together with his partners Dave Pramuk, Al Perry and father Aldo Biale launched Robert Biale Vineyards on the site in the Oak Knoll AVA where Aldo’s father, Pietro, had had the foresight to plant Zinfandel vines in 1937, only four years after the repeal of Prohibition. Bob Biale and Dave Pramuk cherish the tradition of old Zinfandel vines, some dating back to the 1880s, and the small quantity of concentrated and intense fruit that they produce. Diligent farming, expressive terroir, and superb elegance are the winery’s hallmarks. Among the winery’s portfolio of twenty wines that are made by winemaker Tres Goetting, Black Chicken Zinfandel is the flagship, and has become a benchmark for the variety.

14 months in 20% new, French oak barrels. Sourced from the same family vineyard on the Biale estate that Aldo, Nonna, Bob Biale and the Biale family have farmed their whole lives, with additional grapes from their neighbouring winery vineyard in the Oak Knoll District, Black Chicken is a wonderful expression of Zinfandel from the cool southern Napa Valley, and perhaps the most famous icon of Napa Valley Zinfandel in general.

The Oak Knoll AVA dominates this wine with its ripe aromatics and juicy acidity. Aromas of vibrant cherries, raspberries, cinnamon, violets, dried herbs and toasty brown spices. The entry is bright and gives way to supple, round tannins. The fresh finish is the signature of this elegant and remarkably balanced Zinfandel that is immediately drinkable and worthy of five to seven more years of cellar time.