Storybook Mountain Eastern Exposures Zinfandel 2018

The cool eastern exposures of a volcanic hillside overlooking Mt. St. Helena produced this gold standard of Napa Valley red wine. Tastings Editor Corey Warren described its scent as California forest, citrus, blackberry and herb. That distinctly California-woodlands scent appeared in my own notes as madrone, pine and wild blueberry. This is a savory red, all about brisk and bold tension in its structure and freshness in its fruit. The lively interplay of floral, herbal, fruity and umami is a window into the complexity this wine will develop with age.

Very much hewing to the Storybook Mountain style of precise, never flashy, very well-structured Zins with terrific aging potential, the 2018 Eastern Exposures is a deep, somewhat tightly wound youngster that hits all of the varietal marks smartly and never lets pushy ripeness have the final word. We have often commented that this maker’s Zinfandels can be uncannily claret-like in their construction, and, given the winery’s long track record for making wines that get better and better with cellaring, this one can and should be confidently laid away for another five to ten years.