This 2016 Old Vine Zinfandel boasts ripe fruit and many layers of complexity due to Mendocino’s coastal climate. An aromatic bouquet of blackberry and cassis fill the glass. Flavors of red strawberries, boysenberry and vanilla open to a velvety smooth mouthfeel backed by very little tannin and a good structural acidity. This wine will pair perfectly with a variety of dishes including braised short ribs, Italian pastas or wood-fired pizzas.
Vineyard and Winemaker’s notes
This gem of an Old Vine Zinfandel was grown on a small, 80-year-old vineyard along the Russian River in Mendocino. Matured vines like these are extremely rare and are sought after; for they produce less overall quantity of fruit, allowing the existing clusters plenty of energy and sunlight to ripen and create a finer, more regal wine.
Specifications
Vintage: 2016
Varietal Composition: Zinfandel 98%, Petite Sirah 2%
Hawley Winery and Vineyards is located near Healdsburg, overlooking the Dry Creek Valley. John Hawley started the winery in 1996, after 20 years of winemaking at some of California’s most influential wineries. Today, John and his two sons, Paul and Austin Hawley, produce unique wines from their certified organic vineyards and select Sonoma County grapes.
We craft nine different wines at Hawley Winery, although more than half of them are less than 500 cases. Producing only 3,000 cases annually, we enjoy the freedom of our small family winery to make a variety of wines and styles. Making wines in small lots from select vineyards allows us to capture the character of a vineyard and a vintage, the terroir. We enjoy crafting small lots of unique wines that express our Sonoma County vineyards.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OR, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Hi there! Hawley team here! We’re excited to introduce ourselves on Casemates for the first time. If anyone has any questions about our 2016 Mendocino Old Vine Zinfandel please don’t hesitate to ask away. We are very proud of this single-vineyard, double-gold medal winning wine. We make it right here at our winery in Dry Creek Valley.
Good to see you here, and remember you from woot; along with some '13 Vio I opened a few months ago from '15. And still have some of the '04 CS and Merlot from '11. Need to dig those out for consumption.
So, you’re not unknown in these parts…
Is this your first/only vintage of this or a new source?
Fruit from your vineyards, or sourced? From where?
Any additional labs you can supply?
This is a new vineyard and appellation for us. Most of our grapes are coming from Sonoma County but we when we saw this Old Vine Zin vineyard in Mendocino County we were really excited. It’s on a gravelly bench along the Russian River and the vines are about 80 years old. It’s dry-farmed and we only yields 1 to 2 tons per acre from the big gnarled head-trained vines.
actual-lockable-bigfoot
I’m in, your work with and use of Falcons in the vineyard sold me. I do a fair amount of wildlife photography and birds of prey are a favorite subject. I will look forward to pulling a cork after a day in the field.
@rc70 If you can find them, check out their Raptor Rescue zinfandels. Really nice etched bottles. CT says I still have a 2012 and 2013, not sure of the most current vintage.
We had an opportunity to taste this wine the night before last (Thursday), and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Some really ripe, red fruit on the nose, and no noticeable heat. The first sensation I got on the palate, right after opening was of really firm, grippy tannins, not that there’s anything wrong with that. However, after a few minutes, that had pretty much dissipated. Still plenty of structure, but more immediately approachable. It paired quite well with the pork chops braised in apple cider and port wine, accompanied by buttercup squash, plus an asparagus and cauliflower bake and an avocado and tomato salad. I know, a bit of a mélange, but that’s how we eat, and one of the great things about a Zin like this one is that it marries well with most anything. Not a big finish, but there was so much on the front and in the middle of the palate that I didn’t mind. A nice price for 4 bottles, a downright steal at $12.50/bottle.
I’ve loved previous vintages of the Merlot and Meritage. I particularly enjoyed the more old world sensibility of those wines.
What vineyard are these from? What’s the style here? What do you think the optimal drinking window will be?
@klezman This is from the Luccetti Ranch. It’s a fruit-forward Zinfandel and it is drinking nicely right now. It can age for another 3-4 years as well.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2016 Hawley Old Vine Zinfandel - $30 = 16.65%
@chipgreen If you get 4 bottles it’s $15.00/btl. If you get a case, it’s $12.50/btl. It knocks an additional $2.50 off per bottle if you go for the case.
ddeuddeg and I were so thrilled to find a bottle of 2016 Hawley Mendocino Country Old Vine Zinfandel in our lab rat box. We have visited the tasting room and have tasted most of the wines that they offer. But we were not aware that they are sourcing grapes from Mendocino County.
This bottle was sent so that we could share with those who are here in Buffalo for the Icewine Festival and Sushi & Bubbly Event. However, a zin just didn’t fit well into this plan. We opened the bottle last night to have with dinner, but immediately poured half out into a 375 ml bottle, screwed on the cap and put it in the fridge, so that we could share with the others the next evening.
This wine has a beautiful, dark, deep ruby color. On first taste, it was very tight and had a lot of tannins. Within five minutes, all kinds of bright, bold fruit were evident. It went well with the meal that ddeuddeg described in his review. I liked it this wine a lot. It came across as a bold wine, loaded with blackberries and deep red fruits. I would say that it is definitely a food wine. It did not show as well on the second night as on the first. But, it might have been the beers and other beverages interfering with the wine. In general, this is a very nice wine.
Hawley Winery, welcome to casemates! We are so glad that you are here! I look forward to future offerings from you. Can you tell us how new the barrels were that were used? Thanks!
@bahwm Thanks for taking the time to taste this Zin! It did not slumber in barrels as long as our other Zins typically do. This wine was aged for 9 months in 50% new oak. We also used mostly French oak but some American as well.
Wow! Hawley on Casemates!
So in full disclosure, I have been a Hawley wine club member for the better part of a decade and currently have 110 bottles in the cellar, and another 120 in the consumed column since I’ve been keeping track.
Can’t say enough good things about the family and team. Great wine and very talented and gracious people. I will stop the advertisement at this point, but want to push folks who are on the fence.
This one didn’t go out to wine club and it is the first I’m seeing of it, so interest is definitely piqued. I’d be kidding myself if I don’t at least do a split on this one, just to make sure I keep a full set!
Welcome to Paul and whoever else from the team shows up!
@trifecta ajrod invited us to stop in the tasting room because of you. I’m glad that we did! It was a wonderful experience and sold me on their wines right then and there!
@trifecta Thank you for your support! What sort of fun Hawley wines are aging in your cellar? You’re quite right, we haven’t sent out this Zin to our wine club because it was not sourced from Sonoma County, as our wines have just about always been. In fact it’s not a wine we sell through our tasting room or website either. It’s like a magical unicorn sighting. Hope you enjoy it! By the way, I’m having trouble seeing names on here. Feel free to say hello this week through the Wine Club email!
•Kristen Power (Club Mngr)
@trifecta Yeah, I think we went together on one Barrel Tasting weekend long ago…one of my favourite stops that trip. @HawleyWinery any chance we’ll see the Bordeaux varieties in these parts?
@trifecta Barrel tasting is coming up in March- will you be attending this year? (We also post our offerings online so you’ll see those thru our website.) Unfortunately/Fortunately the Bordeaux varieties remain very small lot production, yielding barely enough to go around so they’ll likely remain club/direct wines. They sell out fast so it seems like we are often in between vintages. That being said, one never will know if some might show up down the road…
•Kristen Power
I’m planning to buy a four-pack, but if any of the usual NYC suspects (or even an unusual suspect) wants to go for a case, let’s see if we can work out a share.
@kr4 It’s getting down to the wire, and we don’t have a third to split with. I’ll hold off a little longer, but I going to get just the four, if nobody’s chimed in in the next half hour.
@borisgoodenough@ttboy23 jrbw3 anyone who wants to split with me just let me know how many you’d like. I also grabbed the Casemates QPR Select Red Blend case last month if you want some of that…and a case of King Estate’s North by Northwest Rosé
As with another offer, I’ve still got some of these waiting for someone, and frankly I don’t know who hasn’t gotten what they may want.
Like to do some Christmas cleaning.
Let me know…
@wzh2hz See the San Diego thread, or my post earlier in this thread.
Two of us are splitting, but can adjust quantities.
What area of SD? We generally swap around UTC area.
LMK
Tasting Notes
This 2016 Old Vine Zinfandel boasts ripe fruit and many layers of complexity due to Mendocino’s coastal climate. An aromatic bouquet of blackberry and cassis fill the glass. Flavors of red strawberries, boysenberry and vanilla open to a velvety smooth mouthfeel backed by very little tannin and a good structural acidity. This wine will pair perfectly with a variety of dishes including braised short ribs, Italian pastas or wood-fired pizzas.
Vineyard and Winemaker’s notes
This gem of an Old Vine Zinfandel was grown on a small, 80-year-old vineyard along the Russian River in Mendocino. Matured vines like these are extremely rare and are sought after; for they produce less overall quantity of fruit, allowing the existing clusters plenty of energy and sunlight to ripen and create a finer, more regal wine.
Specifications
Price Comparison
Not sold online
About The Winery
Hawley Winery and Vineyards is located near Healdsburg, overlooking the Dry Creek Valley. John Hawley started the winery in 1996, after 20 years of winemaking at some of California’s most influential wineries. Today, John and his two sons, Paul and Austin Hawley, produce unique wines from their certified organic vineyards and select Sonoma County grapes.
We craft nine different wines at Hawley Winery, although more than half of them are less than 500 cases. Producing only 3,000 cases annually, we enjoy the freedom of our small family winery to make a variety of wines and styles. Making wines in small lots from select vineyards allows us to capture the character of a vineyard and a vintage, the terroir. We enjoy crafting small lots of unique wines that express our Sonoma County vineyards.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OR, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Friday, February 8th - Tuesday, February 12th
Hawley Winery Old Vine Zinfandel
4 bottles for $59.99 $15/bottle + $2/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $149.99 $12.50/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2016 Hawley Winery Old Vine Zinfandel
Hi there! Hawley team here! We’re excited to introduce ourselves on Casemates for the first time. If anyone has any questions about our 2016 Mendocino Old Vine Zinfandel please don’t hesitate to ask away. We are very proud of this single-vineyard, double-gold medal winning wine. We make it right here at our winery in Dry Creek Valley.
Good to see you here, and remember you from woot; along with some '13 Vio I opened a few months ago from '15. And still have some of the '04 CS and Merlot from '11. Need to dig those out for consumption.
So, you’re not unknown in these parts…
Is this your first/only vintage of this or a new source?
Fruit from your vineyards, or sourced? From where?
Any additional labs you can supply?
Welcome to the new venue!
This is a new vineyard and appellation for us. Most of our grapes are coming from Sonoma County but we when we saw this Old Vine Zin vineyard in Mendocino County we were really excited. It’s on a gravelly bench along the Russian River and the vines are about 80 years old. It’s dry-farmed and we only yields 1 to 2 tons per acre from the big gnarled head-trained vines.
actual-lockable-bigfoot
I’m in, your work with and use of Falcons in the vineyard sold me. I do a fair amount of wildlife photography and birds of prey are a favorite subject. I will look forward to pulling a cork after a day in the field.
@rc70 If you can find them, check out their Raptor Rescue zinfandels. Really nice etched bottles. CT says I still have a 2012 and 2013, not sure of the most current vintage.
@rc70 That’s great to hear! We would love to connect up about falconry and put you in touch with John Hawley. For our most recent falconry pictures: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/johnhawleyfalconry/
@trifecta Drink em now! They’re ready to go
@rc70 Broadwing, Estate Meritage is our new etched bottle feature (well, silkscreen actually) and details can be found here: https://hawleywine.com/broadwing-release
We had an opportunity to taste this wine the night before last (Thursday), and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Some really ripe, red fruit on the nose, and no noticeable heat. The first sensation I got on the palate, right after opening was of really firm, grippy tannins, not that there’s anything wrong with that. However, after a few minutes, that had pretty much dissipated. Still plenty of structure, but more immediately approachable. It paired quite well with the pork chops braised in apple cider and port wine, accompanied by buttercup squash, plus an asparagus and cauliflower bake and an avocado and tomato salad. I know, a bit of a mélange, but that’s how we eat, and one of the great things about a Zin like this one is that it marries well with most anything. Not a big finish, but there was so much on the front and in the middle of the palate that I didn’t mind. A nice price for 4 bottles, a downright steal at $12.50/bottle.
@ddeuddeg Sounds like we need to come over for dinner soon
@ddeuddeg @HawleyWinery Absolutely! We cook most nights and also enjoy wine with dinner. But, you’ll have to come to Buffalo, NY!
I’ve loved previous vintages of the Merlot and Meritage. I particularly enjoyed the more old world sensibility of those wines.
What vineyard are these from? What’s the style here? What do you think the optimal drinking window will be?
@klezman This is from the Luccetti Ranch. It’s a fruit-forward Zinfandel and it is drinking nicely right now. It can age for another 3-4 years as well.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2016 Hawley Old Vine Zinfandel - $30 = 16.65%
@chipgreen If you get 4 bottles it’s $15.00/btl. If you get a case, it’s $12.50/btl. It knocks an additional $2.50 off per bottle if you go for the case.
ddeuddeg and I were so thrilled to find a bottle of 2016 Hawley Mendocino Country Old Vine Zinfandel in our lab rat box. We have visited the tasting room and have tasted most of the wines that they offer. But we were not aware that they are sourcing grapes from Mendocino County.
This bottle was sent so that we could share with those who are here in Buffalo for the Icewine Festival and Sushi & Bubbly Event. However, a zin just didn’t fit well into this plan. We opened the bottle last night to have with dinner, but immediately poured half out into a 375 ml bottle, screwed on the cap and put it in the fridge, so that we could share with the others the next evening.
This wine has a beautiful, dark, deep ruby color. On first taste, it was very tight and had a lot of tannins. Within five minutes, all kinds of bright, bold fruit were evident. It went well with the meal that ddeuddeg described in his review. I liked it this wine a lot. It came across as a bold wine, loaded with blackberries and deep red fruits. I would say that it is definitely a food wine. It did not show as well on the second night as on the first. But, it might have been the beers and other beverages interfering with the wine. In general, this is a very nice wine.
Hawley Winery, welcome to casemates! We are so glad that you are here! I look forward to future offerings from you. Can you tell us how new the barrels were that were used? Thanks!
@bahwm Thanks for taking the time to taste this Zin! It did not slumber in barrels as long as our other Zins typically do. This wine was aged for 9 months in 50% new oak. We also used mostly French oak but some American as well.
Wow! Hawley on Casemates!
So in full disclosure, I have been a Hawley wine club member for the better part of a decade and currently have 110 bottles in the cellar, and another 120 in the consumed column since I’ve been keeping track.
Can’t say enough good things about the family and team. Great wine and very talented and gracious people. I will stop the advertisement at this point, but want to push folks who are on the fence.
This one didn’t go out to wine club and it is the first I’m seeing of it, so interest is definitely piqued. I’d be kidding myself if I don’t at least do a split on this one, just to make sure I keep a full set!
Welcome to Paul and whoever else from the team shows up!
@trifecta ajrod invited us to stop in the tasting room because of you. I’m glad that we did! It was a wonderful experience and sold me on their wines right then and there!
@trifecta Thank you for your support! What sort of fun Hawley wines are aging in your cellar? You’re quite right, we haven’t sent out this Zin to our wine club because it was not sourced from Sonoma County, as our wines have just about always been. In fact it’s not a wine we sell through our tasting room or website either. It’s like a magical unicorn sighting.
Hope you enjoy it! By the way, I’m having trouble seeing names on here. Feel free to say hello this week through the Wine Club email!
•Kristen Power (Club Mngr)
@bahwm @trifecta That’s so great to hear! Please do come visit again!
•Kristen Power
@trifecta Yeah, I think we went together on one Barrel Tasting weekend long ago…one of my favourite stops that trip.
@HawleyWinery any chance we’ll see the Bordeaux varieties in these parts?
@trifecta Barrel tasting is coming up in March- will you be attending this year? (We also post our offerings online so you’ll see those thru our website.) Unfortunately/Fortunately the Bordeaux varieties remain very small lot production, yielding barely enough to go around so they’ll likely remain club/direct wines. They sell out fast so it seems like we are often in between vintages. That being said, one never will know if some might show up down the road…
•Kristen Power
Thank god you’re not delivering in PA, otherwise it would be my third case this week.
@salpo you could always case leg in from maryland!
@jml326 thanks for offering, but I just can’t keep buying four cases a week!
@salpo Oooo, next time! Our licensing for PA is in the works.
I’m planning to buy a four-pack, but if any of the usual NYC suspects (or even an unusual suspect) wants to go for a case, let’s see if we can work out a share.
@InFrom I am interested in 4…possibly 6.
@kr4 I’d like to keep it to 4, if possible. It’s early yet, let’s see if someone else is interested in joining in. I’ll check in intermittently.
@InFrom Ok. Same here.
@kr4 It’s getting down to the wire, and we don’t have a third to split with. I’ll hold off a little longer, but I going to get just the four, if nobody’s chimed in in the next half hour.
@InFrom OK.
@kr4 Well, guess what, I slept right through the rollover. I happened to wake up at 3:30, and that’s when I realized it. Oh well.
If any of the SE Michigan folks get this and want to share, I’ll do 2,4 or 6. For marital bliss reasons, cannot put on cc at this time.
@jrbw3 I grabbed a case…glad to share.
@kasandrae Will split for 4 or 6; LMK.
@borisgoodenough @kasandrae That’s funny, looks like we ALL bought a case to split!
@kasandrae @ttboy23 No, not me. I’m depending on the kindness of neighbors…
@borisgoodenough @kasandrae OK, I’m splitting with bw3, kse can split with you?
@borisgoodenough @ttboy23 jrbw3 anyone who wants to split with me just let me know how many you’d like. I also grabbed the Casemates QPR Select Red Blend case last month if you want some of that…and a case of King Estate’s North by Northwest Rosé
@kasandrae @ttboy23 Glad to split with you, will take 6 if that’s convenient, otherwise 4.
Don’t need, or have room for, a case, but like Hawley and the $2.50/btl savings.
San Diego or others in for some kind of a split?
@rjquillin SD here… you buy, I’ll take 3 or 6 of these for sure… LMK
@Gunn_showw yappy-pumped-rhinoceros
Since you and I both seem flexible, looks like we could split with one or two more.
@klezman @technoviking @radiolysis @tklivory
@klezman @radiolysis @rjquillin @TechnoViking @tklivory you call it, let me know what you buy and what my split is, and where/when!
@rjquillin I live in South Park but can meet anywhere. Should I buy the case and meet to split?
@wzh2hz
Already done if 4 each works for a three way split.
I don’t think either of us need six if you’re happy with four.
$13.50/btl delivered and taxed.
@rjquillin Sounds great! 4 works for me. Let me know when and where to meet. Do you want my email?
@wzh2hz sure, whisper sent.
Looks like it’s you, @Gunn_showw and me.
@wzh2hz welcome to the SD casemates family! I’m about three miles north of you, so good to know we have more mates in the area.
@wzh2hz @Gunn_showw, @Sekraan
As with another offer, I’ve still got some of these waiting for someone, and frankly I don’t know who hasn’t gotten what they may want.
Like to do some Christmas cleaning.
Let me know…
@rjquillin @Sekraan @wzh2hz I got none and would definitely take a couple bottles…
@Gunn_showw then I think these are yours, unless @wzh2hz claims them, but I think those were picked up…
@Gunn_showw @rjquillin
Not Mine
OK B-Dub, I was on the fence…until now.
@jrbw3 I’ll get my order in
Will split for 4 or 6; I’m near A2. LMK
Packing up to get out of the snow and cold for a bit. Guess I might as well have a case of zin delivered whilst I’m relaxing. One less thing to schlep
As a fellow falconer here in TX, I feel like I kind of have to pull the trigger on this deal…
MN split, anyone?
Anyone interested in a split in Florida
@briancurrie Where in Fl? I grabbed a case if your close I would be willing to split.
I am in Wellington, FL
@briancurrie I’m west coast Sarasota don’t make it over that way unless you’re ever over here. Sorry!
@briancurrie I am in Delray Beach if you want to split a case
@kkay94
@kkay94
Sounds good, did you get a chance to order a case.
@dawnlacroix
I get over there about once a month.
@briancurrie Okay. If you didn’t get a chance to order I still don’t mind splitting the case I ordered & we can meet up when you’re over this way
Looking to split a case in the San Diego area.
@wzh2hz See the San Diego thread, or my post earlier in this thread.
Two of us are splitting, but can adjust quantities.
What area of SD? We generally swap around UTC area.
LMK
Anyone in Seattle up for splitting a case?
@y2chen I’d take up to 4 bottles.
I’ll probably get 4 of these unless anyone in WNY wants to split a case?
@catcoland We’re interested in 4.
@catcoland @noodles Ordered.
LOOOVE a good zin!
Hey @WineDavid49 can you get their Cab Franc, Merlot, and/or Meritage over here?
@klezman on it!