Zinfandel is so ubiquitous in Amador County that we often joke that our parents gave it to us in our baby bottles. This Zin was aged 9 months in American oak barrels. Heavy on the palate with all the boldness and fruit forward pluminess that make Amador County Zinfandels great, our Busi Ranch Zin is our flagship wine.
Specifications
Vintage: 2017
Alcohol: 14.5%
Price Comparison
Not sold online, $336/case MSRP
About The Winery
Winery: Leoni Farms Winery
Owners: Jon and Meredith Campbell
Founded: 2014
Location: Amador County
For 6 generations we’ve done everything from dairy farming, mining, cattle ranching, logging, and construction in these mountains to try and make a living. We hope wine works because we don’t know what the heck else to do.
Winemaking gives me the opportunity to see something from the very beginning of the pruning season, all the way to a glass of wine that I’ve made,” Campbell reflects. “It’s the feeling that you aged it, you maturated it and it’s something you molded and created. It’s very satisfying.
Leoni Farms is a tribute to Co-Owner Meredith Campbell’s family name. The Leoni’s were Swiss pioneers who arrived with a Swiss-Italian wine-drinking tradition. The bottle art for Leoni Farms, a stalking silhouetted mountain lion, pays homage to the Swiss-Italian story in Amador. The word “leone” is Italian for lion. When sojourners from the Alps first arrived in the Mother Lode in the 1850s, many put stakes down in the higher elevations, where mountain lions, grizzly bears and gray wolves were part of the rugged natural world. Now only the mountain lions remain. But, as Campbell’s quick to point out, the brick and mortar of that era remains, too. For him, it’s the reason Amador’s wine tasting ambiance can’t be matched by other California settings.
Leoni Farms Amador County Zinfandel
3 bottles for $49.99 $16.66/bottle + $2.67/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $149.99 $12.50/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2017 Leoni Farms Amador County Zinfandel - $50 = 24.99%
NE OH peeps… I am on a SIWBM but I need to put my $ where my mouth is. Due to his continued participation on the site, I vowed to buy next time there was a Leoni Farms offer. I can owe or buy the case if needed. Would like 3 bottles for myself.
@chipgreen My SIWBM is not working too well. We’ll try again with it…after I take 3 of these off your hands!!! Let’s see who else chimes in and then we can decide who takes the plunge.
@chipgreen@mrn1 We have the BEST enablers anywhere here in OH. I have a coupon from the wineglass deal so I can make the buy. Happy with the 3 of us or can let one more sucker in on the deal. Guess I need to buy a bolt of silk (@mrn1 )
@chipgreen@mrn1@pjmartin Ok, I was going to play a sideline lurker for a while, but I can’t let my 'mates linger for a 5th person. If you still need someone to finish the case, I’ll join the party! LMK
Standing at my desk at work last week, I got an email from FedEx telling me a package would be arriving! I wasn’t expecting one, but the intent was clear: a rat bottle! It arrived the next day, and I open it to find a bottle of this Zinfandel. I was able to let it sit for a couple days before opening.
Colour: very purple, on the redder end of the spectrum. Clear at the edges.
Aroma: Some jammy dark red fruit, mint, earth, and the occasional hint of flowers. Some heat that comes and goes. Without swirling it settles into smelling like dusty fresh plum.
Taste: Plums, baking spices, medium+ acidity, some greener herbs. Some jammy qualities. Fruit forward and balanced.
Body: medium body
Finish: mostly spices, some impression of alcohol, mint, and eventually darker earth notes. Length is medium+.
10 minutes later with some air, it’s improved noticeably. The heat is all but gone, the savoury qualities are more prominent, and the fruit is less forward – and for my tastes – more balanced. A wine that will also go well with foods that could use the bright acidity to cut some richness. Maybe an osso buco? One sip went surprisingly well with a bite of pork dumpling!
Glass number 2, a bit more than an hour after the first, and right out of the bottle it’s nicer. More floral, less overtly fruity, more complexity, and no heat to speak of. Palate remains on the darker side of red – maybe even ripe black plum with some dark cherries mixed in. Baking spices are more obvious here, as is the earth. The minty quality is less pronounced. I almost forgot this was a Zin for a few minutes and thought it was Amador Barbera!
Night 2 this was quite nice still. The finish has picked up a smoky note while the fruit has integrated even more. It did not go well with a veggie lasagna.
For my tastes, I’d happily have a few bottles but I wouldn’t open any for about 2-3 years to let things integrate more. For those who like their wines younger and/or more fruit-forward this is delicious and there’d be no need to wait to pop and enjoy.
And for those who will (inevitably) want the comparison to Scott’s Zins, I have to start by saying that I prefer (and almost exclusively buy) the white label and 1869 - with more acidity and structure in general. This struck me as more along the lines of the red label Zin, and it compares favourably. I think it fills a similar role and if you’re a fan of that wine you will certainly enjoy this. $12.50/bottle at the case price is a no-brainer in that case.
@klezman actually plum is the fruit I describe on my tasting notes for this wine- thank you - and Scott’s a good friend of mine , just saw him last week - my hero as a younger Amador winemaker - my buddy has an 83 Barbera he made I keep threatening Scott we are gonna open
@Leonifarms The surprising thing was the mint. I rarely get that as distinctly as I did with this wine.
Love the addition of Charbono!
I’m also stuck in Amador… Drinking Cooper Barbera tonight!
@klezman that vineyard throws off a lot of menthol qualities -I love that field - every vintage we’ve made off of it since we have managed it since 2013 - that’s the same quality I hear
@sammypedram sorry - Virginia just recently changed their laws- I used to ship to Virginia all the time and just had to recently tell my most loyal east coast wine club member in Williamsburg that they made it a no ship state in the last 3 months - thank your ABC or legislators
@sammypedram@thelecroy I just got informed about Virginia being a new No Ship state last month and had to inform 2 really good 6 bottle a 1/4 wine club members I couldn’t ship there anymore! It sucks!
I felt like I had this in my basement and had to check my order history. I bought the split case back in October. I think we only opened one bottle each of the barbera and zin. I remember liking both, but wanted the rest of the case to rest for a while before opening more. I don’t recall specific tasting notes, but thought it drank well like some of our other favorites - Scott Harvey and Wellington, for what that’s worth.
@kaolis I wish, I have great customers from there I cant ship to! I don’t know why state legislatures allow big distributors to put up protective walls and prevent their residents from having real consumer choice! its very frustrating! But much better than when I started the wine business!
@kaolis you have to get a bunch of permits and pay a bunch just to ship there - as a one man operation I don’t want to deal with 9 trillion more compliance forms for the few customers who would order - as I get bigger I’m sure I will
Hello Leoni. Appreciate your participation. How many cases were produced? Would you say this is new OR old world in style? Finally, why American over French oak? I’ll be honest, not a fan of American oak.
@losthighwayz we do about 350-500 cases of zin a year- our wine isn’t an oak bomb like you see today with flabby , big alc. , high ph , raisin flavors - I like balanced , fruit forward wines with jus ya hint of the oak expression- we only go about 25% new wood on our zin and Barbera because I don’t believe those varietals do well with too much oak expression
@losthighwayz American oak barrels : 1/3 the price , made with American oak and goods , which is a big thing to me , and they put a stronger flavor faster on wines , which is helpful sometimes
@Leonifarms@losthighwayz Dude, read my rat report! Did I mention oak? Nope. Because I didn’t perceive it.
I don’t agree with a “new vs old” world style any longer. Too many wines made in the old world are flat, boring fruit-bombs and a lot of wines in the new world are structured, balanced, and age-worthy.
@klezman@losthighwayz yea , but overwhelmingly , despite the Parkerization of the old world , the wines are more in balance and varietally correct in the old world - take Barbera for instance - many Amador Barberas are flabby , 15% oak bombs, while you cant find me a Barbera D’ Alba from Piedmont like that - probably why I drink a lot of Pio Cesare Barbera and use it for inspiration often
I kinda wanna jump in on a few bottles to give Leoni a shot. My ordering window is somewhat closed right now. If I order this I risk/gamble(heh) bottles on the fedex truck circling Vegas in mid 80s. Based on my whereabouts and experiences, it could possibly arrive warm enough to make some glühwein.
@rjquillin whoops, probably not then… hah. My mind have been in a million other places lately. Probably better for storage space. Till next time, I wanna snag a barbera offer.
@Leonifarms Was wondering how old your Zin vines are? I was in Dry Creek/Healdsburg a week ago (so I shouldn’t be buying but its a Zin sooo we’ll see). Anyway, we were talking about vine ages and they said the best place for “ancient” (pre-Prohibition) Zins was Amadore County. Just wondering the vine age?
@reesai Busi Ranch is about 17 years old… we have one field we work with that’s 105 year old 1913 planting… small vineyard, we only do 1-2 tons a year off of it- you gotta be wary as a consumer about the term " old vine zinfandel"- there is no regulation behind it and some of the wines coming out of certain appellations say “old vine zin” or “ancient vines” on every label when I know damn well most of the wines are young replants so they could mechanize the vineyard (machine harvest, etc)
@Leonifarms Thanks! Yes, we were warned about the lack of regulation behind the terminology just so excited to see something from Amadore! I have several cases of wine I still haven’t put away from my trip (and spring wine shippings) but I’m in!
@Leonifarms@reesai You want really old vines, check out Scott’s Vineyard 1869, and some stuff from Once & Future, Bedrock, and Turley. Once & Future is Joel Peterson’s new project post-Ravenswood.
@reesai If you like Zinfandel as much as I do, this podcast featuring Joel Peterson, the founder of Ravenswood is great, and gets into specifics about his style and things he likes about zin, which is a crazy versatile fruit that can change so much vineyard to vineyard, and winemaking protocol to protocol
Jana and I had our last bottle of this Zinfandel last week with Amador County lamb. The price on Casemates is as good as it gets. Klezman’s lab rate report is right on and I really like Jon’s style of old world Zinfandel at 3.6pH. So, I’m in.
@ScottHarveyWine the 2018 will probably be the best vintage of my 7 vintages in this field - early October picking, 24.5 brix , 3.45 ph - right in my honey hole -
Tasting Notes
Zinfandel is so ubiquitous in Amador County that we often joke that our parents gave it to us in our baby bottles. This Zin was aged 9 months in American oak barrels. Heavy on the palate with all the boldness and fruit forward pluminess that make Amador County Zinfandels great, our Busi Ranch Zin is our flagship wine.
Specifications
Price Comparison
Not sold online, $336/case MSRP
About The Winery
Winery: Leoni Farms Winery
Owners: Jon and Meredith Campbell
Founded: 2014
Location: Amador County
For 6 generations we’ve done everything from dairy farming, mining, cattle ranching, logging, and construction in these mountains to try and make a living. We hope wine works because we don’t know what the heck else to do.
Leoni Farms is a tribute to Co-Owner Meredith Campbell’s family name. The Leoni’s were Swiss pioneers who arrived with a Swiss-Italian wine-drinking tradition. The bottle art for Leoni Farms, a stalking silhouetted mountain lion, pays homage to the Swiss-Italian story in Amador. The word “leone” is Italian for lion. When sojourners from the Alps first arrived in the Mother Lode in the 1850s, many put stakes down in the higher elevations, where mountain lions, grizzly bears and gray wolves were part of the rugged natural world. Now only the mountain lions remain. But, as Campbell’s quick to point out, the brick and mortar of that era remains, too. For him, it’s the reason Amador’s wine tasting ambiance can’t be matched by other California settings.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, 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, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Thursday, April 4th - Monday, April 8th
Leoni Farms Amador County Zinfandel
3 bottles for $49.99 $16.66/bottle + $2.67/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $149.99 $12.50/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2017 Leoni Farms Zinfandel
Dude, it’s awesome to be on casemates again ! We love this site ! Any questions you guys got for me , let me know ! Btw , Ph 3.6 , TA .6 , RS minimal
POKER! JOKER! NOT MEDIOCRE! AWESOME!
@Leonifarms
Welcome back!
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2017 Leoni Farms Amador County Zinfandel - $50 = 24.99%
The zin you’re drinking , that’s our field
NE OH peeps… I am on a SIWBM but I need to put my $ where my mouth is. Due to his continued participation on the site, I vowed to buy next time there was a Leoni Farms offer. I can owe or buy the case if needed. Would like 3 bottles for myself.
@chipgreen My SIWBM is not working too well. We’ll try again with it…after I take 3 of these off your hands!!! Let’s see who else chimes in and then we can decide who takes the plunge.
@chipgreen @mrn1 We have the BEST enablers anywhere here in OH. I have a coupon from the wineglass deal so I can make the buy. Happy with the 3 of us or can let one more sucker in on the deal. Guess I need to buy a bolt of silk (@mrn1 )
/giphy unvarying-unattractive-fudge
@mrn1 @pjmartin
Much thanks, I look forward to trying these!
@chipgreen @mrn1 @pjmartin I’ll take a few if needed
@chipgreen @mrn1 @pjmartin Ok, I was going to play a sideline lurker for a while, but I can’t let my 'mates linger for a 5th person. If you still need someone to finish the case, I’ll join the party! LMK
@Boatman72 @mrn1 @pjmartin
What’s 12/5?
@Boatman72 @chipgreen @mrn1 20 days before Christmas?
Standing at my desk at work last week, I got an email from FedEx telling me a package would be arriving! I wasn’t expecting one, but the intent was clear: a rat bottle! It arrived the next day, and I open it to find a bottle of this Zinfandel. I was able to let it sit for a couple days before opening.
Colour: very purple, on the redder end of the spectrum. Clear at the edges.
Aroma: Some jammy dark red fruit, mint, earth, and the occasional hint of flowers. Some heat that comes and goes. Without swirling it settles into smelling like dusty fresh plum.
Taste: Plums, baking spices, medium+ acidity, some greener herbs. Some jammy qualities. Fruit forward and balanced.
Body: medium body
Finish: mostly spices, some impression of alcohol, mint, and eventually darker earth notes. Length is medium+.
10 minutes later with some air, it’s improved noticeably. The heat is all but gone, the savoury qualities are more prominent, and the fruit is less forward – and for my tastes – more balanced. A wine that will also go well with foods that could use the bright acidity to cut some richness. Maybe an osso buco? One sip went surprisingly well with a bite of pork dumpling!
Glass number 2, a bit more than an hour after the first, and right out of the bottle it’s nicer. More floral, less overtly fruity, more complexity, and no heat to speak of. Palate remains on the darker side of red – maybe even ripe black plum with some dark cherries mixed in. Baking spices are more obvious here, as is the earth. The minty quality is less pronounced. I almost forgot this was a Zin for a few minutes and thought it was Amador Barbera!
Night 2 this was quite nice still. The finish has picked up a smoky note while the fruit has integrated even more. It did not go well with a veggie lasagna.
For my tastes, I’d happily have a few bottles but I wouldn’t open any for about 2-3 years to let things integrate more. For those who like their wines younger and/or more fruit-forward this is delicious and there’d be no need to wait to pop and enjoy.
And for those who will (inevitably) want the comparison to Scott’s Zins, I have to start by saying that I prefer (and almost exclusively buy) the white label and 1869 - with more acidity and structure in general. This struck me as more along the lines of the red label Zin, and it compares favourably. I think it fills a similar role and if you’re a fan of that wine you will certainly enjoy this. $12.50/bottle at the case price is a no-brainer in that case.
@klezman actually plum is the fruit I describe on my tasting notes for this wine- thank you - and Scott’s a good friend of mine , just saw him last week - my hero as a younger Amador winemaker - my buddy has an 83 Barbera he made I keep threatening Scott we are gonna open
@klezman the zin is cut with a tad bit of Cooper Ranch Charbono
@Leonifarms The surprising thing was the mint. I rarely get that as distinctly as I did with this wine.
Love the addition of Charbono!
I’m also stuck in Amador… Drinking Cooper Barbera tonight!
@klezman that vineyard throws off a lot of menthol qualities -I love that field - every vintage we’ve made off of it since we have managed it since 2013 - that’s the same quality I hear
@klezman I grew up in Plymouth and had coffee with 2 of the 3 Cooper girls this morning - small town shit !
@Leonifarms Welcome back! No Virginia? Better for my wallet I suppose . . .
@sammypedram sorry - Virginia just recently changed their laws- I used to ship to Virginia all the time and just had to recently tell my most loyal east coast wine club member in Williamsburg that they made it a no ship state in the last 3 months - thank your ABC or legislators
@Leonifarms @sammypedram wait are we going to see less and less offers from all wineries now?
@sammypedram @thelecroy I just got informed about Virginia being a new No Ship state last month and had to inform 2 really good 6 bottle a 1/4 wine club members I couldn’t ship there anymore! It sucks!
@Leonifarms @thelecroy Yikes! Thanks for the info.
I felt like I had this in my basement and had to check my order history. I bought the split case back in October. I think we only opened one bottle each of the barbera and zin. I remember liking both, but wanted the rest of the case to rest for a while before opening more. I don’t recall specific tasting notes, but thought it drank well like some of our other favorites - Scott Harvey and Wellington, for what that’s worth.
@KCountry Barbera is our most popular varietal wine! This wine will lay down for some time, but is quite drinkable now!
ILL no IL… ha!
@kaolis I wish, I have great customers from there I cant ship to! I don’t know why state legislatures allow big distributors to put up protective walls and prevent their residents from having real consumer choice! its very frustrating! But much better than when I started the wine business!
@Leonifarms Illinois blows
@Leonifarms A matter of your costs I assume? We’re not a can’t ship to state from producers, just a pain in the ass state
@kaolis you have to get a bunch of permits and pay a bunch just to ship there - as a one man operation I don’t want to deal with 9 trillion more compliance forms for the few customers who would order - as I get bigger I’m sure I will
No capsule?! - I’ll have to buy some!
@woopdedoo I brand the top and bottom of my corks with my cool cougar logo, why cover that up with a foil?
@Leonifarms Agree! Pass it on.
Hello Leoni. Appreciate your participation. How many cases were produced? Would you say this is new OR old world in style? Finally, why American over French oak? I’ll be honest, not a fan of American oak.
@losthighwayz we do about 350-500 cases of zin a year- our wine isn’t an oak bomb like you see today with flabby , big alc. , high ph , raisin flavors - I like balanced , fruit forward wines with jus ya hint of the oak expression- we only go about 25% new wood on our zin and Barbera because I don’t believe those varietals do well with too much oak expression
@losthighwayz American oak barrels : 1/3 the price , made with American oak and goods , which is a big thing to me , and they put a stronger flavor faster on wines , which is helpful sometimes
@Leonifarms good to hear. Would you say oak is not perceptible? My taste buds are very sensitive to any oak so curious. Thanks
@Leonifarms @losthighwayz Dude, read my rat report! Did I mention oak? Nope. Because I didn’t perceive it.
I don’t agree with a “new vs old” world style any longer. Too many wines made in the old world are flat, boring fruit-bombs and a lot of wines in the new world are structured, balanced, and age-worthy.
@klezman @losthighwayz yea , but overwhelmingly , despite the Parkerization of the old world , the wines are more in balance and varietally correct in the old world - take Barbera for instance - many Amador Barberas are flabby , 15% oak bombs, while you cant find me a Barbera D’ Alba from Piedmont like that - probably why I drink a lot of Pio Cesare Barbera and use it for inspiration often
@Leonifarms Mmmmm. I enjoy wines from Piedmont.
@Leonifarms @losthighwayz Yeah, the proportions still tilt in favour of the old vs new world idea. But we also like giving lost a hard time
In for a case to split with co worker again!
@losthighwayz coworker sighting!!
I kinda wanna jump in on a few bottles to give Leoni a shot. My ordering window is somewhat closed right now. If I order this I risk/gamble(heh) bottles on the fedex truck circling Vegas in mid 80s. Based on my whereabouts and experiences, it could possibly arrive warm enough to make some glühwein.
@TechnoViking @klezman
I could send one up his way we could split…
@rjquillin whoops, probably not then… hah. My mind have been in a million other places lately. Probably better for storage space. Till next time, I wanna snag a barbera offer.
@TechnoViking I missed the case too, and had to settle for the mini offer.
/giphy mechanical-fiery-thrill
One man show? Got to support that.
@Leonifarms Was wondering how old your Zin vines are? I was in Dry Creek/Healdsburg a week ago (so I shouldn’t be buying but its a Zin sooo we’ll see). Anyway, we were talking about vine ages and they said the best place for “ancient” (pre-Prohibition) Zins was Amadore County. Just wondering the vine age?
@reesai Busi Ranch is about 17 years old… we have one field we work with that’s 105 year old 1913 planting… small vineyard, we only do 1-2 tons a year off of it- you gotta be wary as a consumer about the term " old vine zinfandel"- there is no regulation behind it and some of the wines coming out of certain appellations say “old vine zin” or “ancient vines” on every label when I know damn well most of the wines are young replants so they could mechanize the vineyard (machine harvest, etc)
@Leonifarms Thanks! Yes, we were warned about the lack of regulation behind the terminology just so excited to see something from Amadore! I have several cases of wine I still haven’t put away from my trip (and spring wine shippings) but I’m in!
@Leonifarms @reesai
Yes, “Old Vine” for wine is about as useful a term as “All Natural” for grocery items.
@chipgreen @reesai or “sustainable “
@Leonifarms @reesai You want really old vines, check out Scott’s Vineyard 1869, and some stuff from Once & Future, Bedrock, and Turley. Once & Future is Joel Peterson’s new project post-Ravenswood.
@klezman @reesai I grew up in Plymouth , know the vineyard well
@reesai If you like Zinfandel as much as I do, this podcast featuring Joel Peterson, the founder of Ravenswood is great, and gets into specifics about his style and things he likes about zin, which is a crazy versatile fruit that can change so much vineyard to vineyard, and winemaking protocol to protocol
What dis – Rhode Island’s actually on the list?! Anyone in southern New England want to split a case?
Jana and I had our last bottle of this Zinfandel last week with Amador County lamb. The price on Casemates is as good as it gets. Klezman’s lab rate report is right on and I really like Jon’s style of old world Zinfandel at 3.6pH. So, I’m in.
@ScottHarveyWine the 2018 will probably be the best vintage of my 7 vintages in this field - early October picking, 24.5 brix , 3.45 ph - right in my honey hole -
@ScottHarveyWine Thanks Scott!
@ScottHarveyWine that’s all the endorsement I need … In for a case.
@ScottHarveyWine
Hi Scott! We will sure miss your Wooster Inn dinners. Would it be ok if I scouted around the area for possible alternative venues?
Hope all is well, please say hello to Jana!
@Leonifarms Case is sold out! Anyway you can open more? I got our last deal and loved both your zin and Barbara
I came to over the missed case price, too.
@drhellknow I’ll talk to them today , might squeeze a few more in
@Leonifarms That would be swell. (c=
@drhellknow @Leonifarms @Nel250 We are adjusting this. This will be fixed in the next few minutes and then purchase away!
@arianaWCC @drhellknow @Leonifarms Waaahoooo! Just ordered. Thanks!
@arianaWCC @drhellknow @Leonifarms @Nel250 Phew, that was close. Thanks for the extra cases!
@arianaWCC @Leonifarms @Nel250 Thanks again! (c:
Central New York folks interested in splitting a case before they sell out again? @domels @FritzCat @ecanada
/giphy particular-lumpy-nymph
Pulled trigger based on great winery participation and info presented. Any SE Michiganders want in on this case let me know.
@jrbw3 You can count me in.
Figured out a way to get a case to WI:
smiley-fidgety-orangutan
/giphy adverse-bulbous-insect
in for 3. Great winery participation deserves to be rewarded. and it is a Zin
@Leonifarms
Cases sold out again, congrats!!!
@chipgreen If they can reload the case offer I’m in!
Not sure what’s left guys - I don’t get to see that part!
@Leonifarms Hey WCC, I double dog dare ya!
Sold out ! You guys rule ! Thanks a lot for your support - for a small producer like me , it really means a lot !
Jon Campbell
@Leonifarms
This, from our Sell Outs thread.
@Leonifarms Thank you for being a part of our Casemates community!
If anyone in LA snagged a case and wants to offload a couple I’d love to buy some, bummed I missed this before it sold out!