From the winery

This delicious red blend honors our late and beloved Labrador Retriever, Scout. This wine is based on a tradition of producing a full bodied and delicious red wine. We start with a base of old-vine Zinfandel and build upon that with dry-farmed Petite Sirah, old-vine Charbono, and finish with mountain vineyard Syrah. The result is an unpretentious, generous mouthful of red wine that we recommend be opened and enjoyed immediately upon release.

Full-bodied, concentrated and gorgeous, this vintage features an assemblage of violets, dried cinnamon, white flowers, fresh cut blue herbs, and a touch of barrel toast. The palate has loads black fruits and sweet currants, pepper spice, and an enveloping masculinity of char and tannins from the Syrah, Charbono and Petite Sirah. A seamless balance and mouth coating deliciousness lead to a wine that is quite pleasing to the senses. Cellared correctly it will age for 7 to 10 years.

In The Vineyard

The 2019 growing season was warm and early, taking place between September 16th and October 1st, with an average Brix of 28.8 degrees. Grapes were farmed and harvested from multiple vineyards in throughout Napa Valley, with four vineyards playing and anchoring role in the development of the wine. The blk of the Zinfandel was picked from two, old-vine (60 to 100+ years old), dry-farmed vineyard sources: Venge’s Estate “Signal Fire Vineyard” and the Frediani Vineyard—both located in the heart of Calistoga. The Charbono is from old, dry-farmed vines (60 to 100+ years old) also planted in the Frediani Vineyard. Robbie Mondavi’s Oso Vineyard located on Howell Mountain supplies the Petite Sirah—we love this site! And, Napa’s finest Syrah from Stagecoach Vineyard, high in the mountains of the Atlas Peak AVA, completes the blend with a dash of mountain backbone.

In The Cellar

The small, individual lots of fruit were destemmed into a combination of stainless steel tanks and open top fermenters, where whole-berry fermentation took place for an average of 20 days. The wine was barrel aged for 14 months in 50% new American Oak and the balance in once used tight grain French Oak. No conventional pumps were used in the making of this wine. Only diaphragm air pumps, forced air pressure movement, or bulldogging, and transfers by gravity were employed to preserve the pure fruit integrity in the wine.

93 Points Wine Enthusiast – Offered at a great price, this blends 63% Zinfandel with smaller amounts of Charbono, Petite Sirah and Syrah. A mix of bramble berry and lifted acidity blends with plenty of gamy black pepper, toasted oak and baking spice to round out the picture.

90 Points Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate – The 2019 Scout’s Honor is a blend of 63% Zinfandel, 16% Charbono,12% Petite Sirah and 9% Syrah. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it sings of raspberry pie, kirsch and Chinese five spice, with hints of dusty soil, tobacco and dried herbs. The full-bodied palate offers chewy tannins and a refreshing line, finishing on a lingering aniseed note.