They say you should never buy a wine by its label.  Generally, I agree with that.  But how can you ignore a wine that has a 1920’s era young woman riding a motorcycle in a vineyard on the label?  You can’t, so I bought a bottle of Tofanelli Family Vineyard Zinfandel, and I’ve been one of their biggest fans since.

Sebastian DiGiuilo and Irene DalPorto, parents of Pauline DiGiulo Tofanelli, purchased a track of land just south of Calistoga in the 1920’s.  They planted Zinfandel and Charbono, among other varietals, and sold their grapes to some of the biggest wineries in the region.

In fact, they still do, and Tofanelli grapes are in the wines of Turley, Spottswoode, Schrader, Orin Swift, Neyers and Duckhorn.  Amazingly, the vines producing these grapes are as much as 80-years old.  Many are the original plants planted in 1929, making it one of the oldest vineyards in Napa Valley.

About a decade ago Pauline’s son, Vince Tofanelli, decided to bottle his own wines.  He grew up on the property and has an intimate knowledge of the land.  He takes care of it in a loving way, treating the vines as part of the family.  I once pointed at a struggling vine that I saw in the vineyard and asked why he didn’t remove it.  His response was, “My grandparents planted that vine.  It deserves a chance to come back before I make a rash decision like that.”  Such is the heart that goes into tending the land and crafting the wine.

Like his grandparents, Vince practices dry farming.  This puts added pressure on the vine to survive, which produces the highest quality grape.  There is no wiring in the vineyard and each plant grows like a giant bush.  In fact, they look a bit like bushes from a distance.  It’s not an organic farm in the modern sense, but it is a traditional farm and in many ways that is better than our ideas of “organic”.

I have visited Vince at his vineyard a few times and it’s always a fun experience.  He opens a bottle of Zinfandel or Charbono, and we walk through the vineyard discussing the challenges of winemaking.  He points out the home where his sister lives, where he grew up, and where the bus picked him up for school back in the day.  If I’m lucky, he opens both bottles and we talk longer.

I appreciate Vince’s perspective on winemaking and his commitment to excellence … but an excellence that honors his family as much as it honors the vine.

The Tofanelli Zinfandel is magic.  It’s simply the best zinfandel that I have tasted in its price range.  Too many Zins boost the sugar content for a sweet taste.  Tofanelli lets you taste the grape and experience the subtlety of the wine.

While the vineyard is renowned for the Zinfandel, the Tofanelli Charbono is a well kept secret.  Charbono has fallen out of favor as of late, but it’s a good wine that has a unique flavor.  I like it.  I don’t love it, but I really do like it, and it’s a great change of pace from most other red wines.

Since about 80% of the grapes are sold to other producers, it’s fairly easy to find other wines with the moniker “Tofanelli Vineyard” on it.  This past Thanksgiving we opened a bottle of 2006 Tofanelli Zinfandel and a bottle of 2006 Turley “Tofanelli Vineyard” Zinfandel.  Same grapes, same vintage, same farmer, but different winemakers.  It was a lot of fun to taste the differences, and our dinner guests were evenly split between Tofanelli wines and the Turley wines.  When I told them the Turley wine cost twice as much … not a soul thought it was worth paying that much more for the Turley.

It was really fun to do this taste test, and a great education about how a winemaker can do different things with the same grapes.

Tofanelli only produces a thousand cases a year, so don’t expect to find it in the local Safeway.  A few retailers carry the wine but your best bet is to contact Vince directly at vince@tofanelliwine.com and make arrangements to buy a case.  Be sure to tell him you heard about it from me!