Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesThis wine presents outstanding value. It was aged 14 months in French oak, mostly neutral. Velvety thick, it is peppery and bursting in berry bramble, graham cracker and cola. The richness is nicely offset by bursts of acidity that keep it fresh and grounded. Editors’ Choice.
The team behind Valravn has been making wine in Sonoma County for over ten years. Along the way, they’ve established a dynamic network of friends and colleagues that include vineyard owners, growers and winemakers. Because of those forged relationships and friendships, they secured exclusive access to grapes from fantastic vineyards, overseeing hands-on production from vineyard to bottle. While they successfully navigated and maneuvered their way through the negociant market in the past, the next evolutionary step for the team was Valravn.
Launched in 2014, Valravn started with Zinfandel from a friend’s property that they were not going to use for their own production (and not just any zinfandel grapes; these were the old, bush-pruned gnarly vines, envied by every winemaker). In 2017, the range was expanded to include Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Sauvignon from key sites throughout Sonoma County.
Today, the team at Valravn continue to see out similar opportunities, finding a parcel here and a row there and then they bring it all together to craft quintessential Sonoma County wines, out of the gate approachable, delicious and table ready.
Home to a diverse array of smaller AVAs with varied microclimates and soil types, Sonoma County has something for every wine lover. Physically twice as large as Napa Valley, the region only produces about half the amount of wine but boasts both tremendous quality and variety. With its laid-back atmosphere and down-to-earth attitude, the wineries of Sonoma are appreciated by wine tourists for their friendliness and approachability. The entire county intends to become a 100% sustainable winegrowing region by 2019.
Sonoma County wines are produced with carefully selected grape varieties to reflect the best attributes of their sites—Dry Creek Valley’s consistent sunshine is ideal for Zinfandel, while the warm Alexander Valley is responsible for rich, voluptuous red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are important throughout the county, most notably in the cooler AVAs of Russian River, Sonoma Coast and Carneros. Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Syrah have also found a firm footing here.
Unapologetically bold, spice-driven and jammy, Zinfandel has secured its title as the darling of California vintners by adapting well to the state's diverse microclimates and landscapes. Born in Croatia, it later made its way to southern Italy where it was named Primitivo. Fortunately, the imperial nursery of Vienna catalogued specimens of the vine, and it later made its way to New England in 1829. Parading the true American spirit, Zinfandel found a new home in California during the Gold Rush of 1849. Somm Secret—California's ancient vines of Zinfandel are those that survived the neglect of Prohibition; today these vines produce the most concentrated, ethereal and complex examples.