Vibrant ruby-purple in the glass, the 2019 Zinfandel Papera Ranch (blended with 4% Carignan) has an alluring perfume of woodsmoke, tea leaves, graphite, licorice and intense, spicy bramble fruit. The palate is delicate and perfumed this vintage, with loads of juicy lift and floral layers. 1,001 cases produced.

The 2019 Zinfandel Papera Ranch shows a slightly more reserved side of the Russian River. Readers should plan on cellaring this for at least a year or two as the acids and tannins are pretty tightly wound. Blue/purplish fruit, lavender, sage, mint and licorice show a darker side of Zinfandel that is so beguiling.

Coming from the Russian River, the 2019 Zinfandel Papera Ranch is a juicy, blue and red-fruited effort offering lots of candied violets, tobacco, and orange blossom aromatics, medium-bodied richness, light tannins, and a juicy, nicely focused mouthfeel. This elegant, focused, nicely structured Zinfandel is good today but will be better with another year of bottle age and should see its 10th birthday in fine form.