This weekend is a bit special as it marks our first weekend back from #dryjanuary. Here at Beverly Hills Wine Club we have taken part in this trendy tradition for several years now. Yes, we know, no wine during a pandemic? Are we crazy?? Well, let’s just say…it wasn’t easy.

Back on point, this weekend we dive into Mount Peak Winery’s Rattle Snake Zinfindel 2015. Check it out here at Vivino and use our Coupon Code: 2021NEW10
(10% off on all orders for First Time Buyer is on till 03/01/2021; valid worldwide excluding Sweden, Ireland, Macao and Monaco.)

This inky purple wine is bursting with ripe dark fruits (especially black cherry) on the nose and palette, spice box thru the mid palette with a warming sensation toward the end reminding us of its hefty 15.5% alcohol. This wine has moderate acid and tannin and is very approachable at this time or with a little more time in the cellar. We paired it with a delicious meat filled pizza…A gorgeous medium body wine from Sonoma California!

What the critics say…

91 points 2015 Rattlesnake Zinfandel –The Wine Advocate

The 2015 Zinfandel Rattlesnake is medium to deep garnet-purple colored with a nose of raspberry preserves, fruitcake and blackberry pie with hints of Indian spices and tilled soil plus a waft of tree bark. Full, rich and balsamic in the mouth with firm, chewy tannins and a lively acid line, it finishes long and spicy. 5,100 cases produced.– March 2018

About the winery…

Built in 1886, Mount Peak was a marvel of innovation. The three-story, gravity-flow winery was built from the rocks pulled from the dry-farmed Monte Rosso Vineyard. Though it quickly emerged as one of California’s top ten producers, the start of Prohibition in 1920 forced the winery to shutter its doors. Like many of California’s pioneering wineries, Mount Peak was abandoned to the elements, a true ghost winery to never reopen. For decades the winery lay silent, as wild vines and towering fig trees sought to reclaim it stone by stone.

More than 130 years later, only the ruins of the winery remain, yet the vineyard’s still-thriving vines have persisted – standing above the fog line. The ghost winery and world-class Monte Rosso Vineyard are perched at nearly 1,300 feet along the spine of the Mayacamas Mountains, straddling Napa and Sonoma valleys. Monte Rosso’s steep hillsides, robed in bright red, iron-rich soils, are set against a dramatic backdrop of manzanita and madrone trees under the expanse of a piercing blue sky.

From the winemaker…

I love music. It’s constantly playing wherever I am, no matter what time it is. I believe life would be boring without music. I listen to all genres from reggae to classic rock, old school rap to heavy metal. But what I love most is Indie music produced by less famous, less supported artists. (I’m not sure my wife shares my passion.) 

I’ve always felt there’s a strong bond between music and wine – they’re both crafted by passionate people and they both create a resonating sense of place. Just like it’s always exciting to find new wines, I constantly look for new music. I love the discovery of finding artists under the radar before they get famous. These first releases by emerging artists are often raw, edgy and have a sense of uniqueness because there’s nothing to compare them to or judge them against, and because they seem completely original. 

I feel the same way about the 2014 wines from Mount Peak Winery – Mount Peak’s first vintage and, of course, my first wines for the winery. As we release our sophomore vintage, I wait with bated breath that you find them even better, more intensely flavored and more complete than the previous vintage. The 2015 season gave us concentrated wines with depth and length, and I hope you find that my second Mount Peak release is a natural progression from my first. I also hope you know how passionate I am about bringing them from our cellar to you to be enjoyed.

Cheers,

Mark Williams