Delicious Zinfandel Wines from Boeger Winery

It's a little known fact of California history that in 1860 there were more wineries in the Gold Country of El Dorado County than in either Napa or Sonoma Counties. With the end of the Gold Rush and advent of prohibition in the 1920’s, most of the wineries and vineyards disappeared. Then, in the 1970's a revitalization began as the wine industry discovered the region to be comparable in climate to the Oakville area of Napa Valley and the Tuscan region of Italy. Because of steep, sloped vineyards, a wide variety of microclimates, and higher elevations, El Dorado grapes reach an ideal physiological maturity level.

The wineries of El Dorado County can and do produce excellent wine. Both Amador and El Dorado County wine producers are known for offering a good quality to price ratio, particularly for the Zinfandel, Italian and Rhone varietals. Boeger winery has become one of the most established in the Sierra Foothills region. Three generations of hands-on wine making and family ownership contribute to Boeger's consistently high quality wines.

Estate Zinfandel

In 1972, Greg and Sue Boeger purchased the former Lombardo ranch, which had originally been planted with vineyards in 1857. In replanting the ranch, they used cuttings from some of the original vines and these vines now give wonderful clusters of intensely flavored small berries. In comparison to the Napa wineries where the vineyards are cooled by marine fog, El Dorado vines are cooled from the 2300' elevation. Since a fog layer is not a part of summer in the Sierra’s the vines get a full day of sunlight and are cooled at night by the gentle Sierra breezes. This results in grapes that develop great depth and color.

2003 Estate Zinfandel Wine(sold out): Gold Medal San Francisco Chronicle 2006 awards

2004 Estate Zinfandel Wine is available for purchase

Another outstanding vintage from an area & producer known for quality Zinfandel wine. This is a best buy item. Less than 1000 cases produced.

Tasting Notes: Aromas: Dried cherries, plum jam, red pepper, some vanilla and oak aromas. Palate: Very soft fore- and mid- palate but with a lingering finish. Soft tannin impact, medium-full bodied. Spice flavors dominate the flavor profile with jammy fruit expressed secondarily.

Walker Zinfandel   (sorry 2004 is sold out already)

"Since around 1980, Boeger has been making a Walker Zinfandel at his family's Boeger Winery on Apple Hill. Vintage after vintage, it's been one of my favorite zinfandels, which I've appreciated for its clear berry fruit, supple texture, notes of peppery spice and overall elegance" Mike Dunne on Wine, The Sacramento Bee, July 20, 2006.

Wine Advocate, Robert Parker Rates 2004 Walker Zinfandel 90 Points. "A terrific value-priced offering from Boeger ... This dark ruby-hued, juicy wine exhibits loads of berry fruit interwoven with notions of balsam wood and earth."

Tasting Notes: This is a young and fruity wine. The nose is ripe fruit and spice. On the palate, big tannins and crisp acidity mingle for the perfect balance between themselves and the spicy, oaky, texture of this full-bodied Zinfandel.

Previous vintages have been top rated and best buy picks in the Wine Spectator. Less than 2500 cases produced.

The Walker Ranch

Lloyd Walker Ranch was one of the first vineyards to reestablish in El Dorado County after the repeal of prohibition. Lloyd planted an experimental vineyard in 1968 in cooperation with the University of California at Davis to evaluate the potential for premium varieties in the region and achieved glowing results in his early trials.

Lloyd's Zinfandel are over 30 years old and head-pruned in the traditional style. Year in and year out, the grapes and resulting wines are consistently rich, intense and full bodied. The vineyard is planted on deep granitic soil and Lloyd and his wife Claudia do almost all the operations. We continue to buy Zinfandel and Petite Sirah grapes from Lloyd every year.

Greg Boeger (left) and Lloyd Walker

The "Old Clone" Zinfandel vineyard was planted in the early 1990’s with cuttings taken from the original Zinfandel vines planted on our winery site in the late-1800s. One of the original Zinfandels in California, the fruit from these vines are distinct from other Zinfandel clones. They tend to have larger berries but smaller clusters and produce intense jammy flavors and spicy aromas. During most years, the Old Clone Zin is blended with the rest of our Zins to produce our Estate Vineyard Zinfandel. Only in the best years, when the Old Clone really stands apart, do we produce a Reserve, Old Clone Zinfandel. The last two vintages of Old Clone were 1996 and 2002.

Tasting Notes: Primary aromatic characters of toasted oak, strawberry jam, ripe plums and vanilla are immediately evident followed by subtler nuances of spice and pepper. The full-bodied 2002 Old Clone exhibits a subtle fore-palate that crescendos rapidly to a strong mid-palate and the tapers into a long finish. The principal flavor components tend toward caramel, vanilla, blackberry, clove, plum and toasted oak.

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