Wildwood Vineyards

AVA

Sonoma Valley

Decade

1900s

County

Sonoma

Current Owner

Arthur Kunde & Sons, Inc.

Planted by

James Shaw

Location Notes

11011 Sonoma Hwy, Glen Ellen, CA 95442

Wineries

Kunde/Wildwood Vineyards & Winery, Martini & Prati, possibly Sebastiani

Characteristics

Although the vines have very low yield, the result is a jammy old vine Zin with a rich, earthy, intense dark fruit and chocolate flavor made more complex by aging in American and European oak for 15 months.

Description

The 28-acre Century Vine Zinfandel vineyard, a vestige of Louis Kunde’s 1904 purchase, was planted in 1882 by James Shaw. Louis Kunde won a gold medal for this Zinfandel at the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco (as well as another gold for a Burgundy, a silver for Cabernet Sauvignon, a Bronze for Riesling and an honorable mention for Sémillon). Louis also shipped grapes to Chicago. According to family lore, Louis once dumped his grapes along the train tracks instead of accepting an insultingly low price upon delivery.

Facts

Vines were tested by UC Davis in the late 1970s/early 1980s but they were unable to identify the rootstock. The vineyard is head pruned without trellis and dry-farmed.

Submitted by

Keith Kunde

Certified