Wine Article
2004 Ravenswood Zinfandel Old Hill
Last edited on 5/8/2010 by NuTricks
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This unique vineyard in Sonoma Valley is an extension of the Oak Hill Organic Farm, owned and operated for many years by the now deceased Otto Teller, a sage octogenarian who employed no pesticides or irrigation. The 110-year-old vines are situated on a gravelly, well-drained hill that receive a full share of summer sun as well as cooling breezes. The crop level is seldom higher than one and a half tons per acre, and this scant tonnage - combined with the ideal growing conditions - produces exceptionally intense, spicy fruit. Old Hill Zinfandel is dark and rich with provocative flavors of black-berries, mint and black pepper. Its unparalleled depth and complexity will reward those who have the patience to put a few bottles away in the cellar.**************************
Even to his close acquaintances, Otto Teller was larger than life—an irascible and exasperating figure who was generous to a fault, prodigious in his creative energy and unswerving in his devotion to the quality of life. "Mose," as Otto was known to his friends, was an environmentalist and organic farmer decades before those pursuits were considered politically correct—which was fi tting, since he made a kind of career out of being impolitic. Independently and unapologetically wealthy, he was a self-proclaimed "country slicker" who wore ascots to dinner and made weekly drives in his Jaguar from Sonoma to San Francisco for "luncheon." He also donated money to the homeless, founded the Sonoma Land Trust and established a 1,300-acre wildlife refuge in western Montana. That says nothing of Otto's personal benevolence, which was frequently accompanied by verbal barbs about the recipient's imperfections. In short, Teller was a confounding and commanding character in the grand old style of eccentric American outdoorsmen whose like has now largely passed from the earth. Otto's pride and joy was Oak Hill Farm in Sonoma Valley, where he raised fl owers, produce and decorative shrubs. In 1981 he expanded his domain to include Old Hill Ranch, an abandoned vineyard across Highway 12, where century-old Zinfandel vines were covered by blackberries and poison oak and discarded bathroom fi xtures. Consultants advised Otto to fumigate the property with methyl bromide and replant the vineyard, but instead he cleared the brush with a dragline, left a natural cover of grass and stimulated vine growth with foliar kelp, relying on ladybugs and praying mantises to control pests. Far ahead of his time, Teller rejected the use of chemical herbicides and fertilizers; since quality was his top priority, he saw no need to "improve" a vineyard that produced a ton of unsullied and unbelievably intense fruit per acre.
"Mose was a very unconventional man," Otto's widow Anne would later say. "He couldn't stand excesses or decorations or the distractions of modern life. He knew what was good, elegant and classic and he eschewed anything that didn't meet his standards. He wouldn't tolerate mediocrity, and he didn't waste his own time. He worked out a special recipe for life and he stuck to it." When Teller died in 1998 at the age of 90, his wizened grapevines were already older than he was. As they live on, so does Otto's legacy. An acknowledged benchmark in California wine, Ravenswood Old Hill Zinfandel is nothing less than an ongoing incarnation of Otto: big, rich, deep, generous, complex, uncompromising, apparently immortal and inarguably inimitable..........
On a fall day in 1976, as ravens taunted him from tree branches above, Joel Peterson worked doggedly to bring in four tons of grapes before a looming thunderstorm hit. The fruit he crushed that night was used for one of two single-vineyard Sonoma County Zins - the first wines to bear Ravenswood's signature ring of ravens. The fledgling winery got off to a great start when those wines came in #1 and #2 at a prestigious San Francisco Tasting in 1979. With the critical thumbs-up, Joel was able to gather a few wine-loving investors to help get his winery off the ground. He still didn't have enough money to buy property, so he looked around for more grapes. As time went on, Joel forged strong bonds with a cadre of grape growers. Most of those grapes are used to make Ravenswood's prodigious portfolio of Single Vineyard Designate wines, each titled with the name of the distinctive vineyard where the fruit grew. As for today's feature, Sonoma's first famous Zinfandel, made in 1862 by William McPherson Hill, was grown in the Old Hill Vineyard. These vines, probably Sonoma's oldest, turn out remarkable wines. Old Hill Vineyard contains 14 different varieties, but is blended to be 75% Zinfandel. It is aged for 20 months in 100% French oak and is made to age gracefully for 7 to 10 years
Even to his close acquaintances, Otto Teller was larger than life—an irascible and exasperating figure who was generous to a fault, prodigious in his creative energy and unswerving in his devotion to the quality of life. "Mose," as Otto was known to his friends, was an environmentalist and organic farmer decades before those pursuits were considered politically correct—which was fi tting, since he made a kind of career out of being impolitic. Independently and unapologetically wealthy, he was a self-proclaimed "country slicker" who wore ascots to dinner and made weekly drives in his Jaguar from Sonoma to San Francisco for "luncheon." He also donated money to the homeless, founded the Sonoma Land Trust and established a 1,300-acre wildlife refuge in western Montana. That says nothing of Otto's personal benevolence, which was frequently accompanied by verbal barbs about the recipient's imperfections. In short, Teller was a confounding and commanding character in the grand old style of eccentric American outdoorsmen whose like has now largely passed from the earth. Otto's pride and joy was Oak Hill Farm in Sonoma Valley, where he raised fl owers, produce and decorative shrubs. In 1981 he expanded his domain to include Old Hill Ranch, an abandoned vineyard across Highway 12, where century-old Zinfandel vines were covered by blackberries and poison oak and discarded bathroom fi xtures. Consultants advised Otto to fumigate the property with methyl bromide and replant the vineyard, but instead he cleared the brush with a dragline, left a natural cover of grass and stimulated vine growth with foliar kelp, relying on ladybugs and praying mantises to control pests. Far ahead of his time, Teller rejected the use of chemical herbicides and fertilizers; since quality was his top priority, he saw no need to "improve" a vineyard that produced a ton of unsullied and unbelievably intense fruit per acre.
"Mose was a very unconventional man," Otto's widow Anne would later say. "He couldn't stand excesses or decorations or the distractions of modern life. He knew what was good, elegant and classic and he eschewed anything that didn't meet his standards. He wouldn't tolerate mediocrity, and he didn't waste his own time. He worked out a special recipe for life and he stuck to it." When Teller died in 1998 at the age of 90, his wizened grapevines were already older than he was. As they live on, so does Otto's legacy. An acknowledged benchmark in California wine, Ravenswood Old Hill Zinfandel is nothing less than an ongoing incarnation of Otto: big, rich, deep, generous, complex, uncompromising, apparently immortal and inarguably inimitable..........
On a fall day in 1976, as ravens taunted him from tree branches above, Joel Peterson worked doggedly to bring in four tons of grapes before a looming thunderstorm hit. The fruit he crushed that night was used for one of two single-vineyard Sonoma County Zins - the first wines to bear Ravenswood's signature ring of ravens. The fledgling winery got off to a great start when those wines came in #1 and #2 at a prestigious San Francisco Tasting in 1979. With the critical thumbs-up, Joel was able to gather a few wine-loving investors to help get his winery off the ground. He still didn't have enough money to buy property, so he looked around for more grapes. As time went on, Joel forged strong bonds with a cadre of grape growers. Most of those grapes are used to make Ravenswood's prodigious portfolio of Single Vineyard Designate wines, each titled with the name of the distinctive vineyard where the fruit grew. As for today's feature, Sonoma's first famous Zinfandel, made in 1862 by William McPherson Hill, was grown in the Old Hill Vineyard. These vines, probably Sonoma's oldest, turn out remarkable wines. Old Hill Vineyard contains 14 different varieties, but is blended to be 75% Zinfandel. It is aged for 20 months in 100% French oak and is made to age gracefully for 7 to 10 years