Some names carry weight before you even open the bottle. This is one of them. 

The General.

Named for the most famous tree on Earth — the General Sherman, a giant sequoia standing 275 feet tall in California's Sequoia National Park, estimated to be over 2,000 years old, and by sheer volume, the largest living organism on the planet. A single branch of that tree is wider in diameter than most trees east of the Mississippi. It has survived two millennia of drought, fire, and storm — standing still, rooted, immovable.

That's the spirit we're invoking, it took us 7 years to find the perfect terroir and vintage to follow up with the marvelous 2017, and man, was it worth the wait!

We're in Calistoga — the very top of Napa Valley, where the terrain gets volcanic, the days run long and hot, and the nights cool down sharply off the Pacific. It is Napa's most primal address. This is not the polished, manicured Napa you see on postcards. Calistoga is rugged. It's old vine country. And Zinfandel, here, is the varietal that speaks that truth most honestly.

The 2023 growing season gave us exactly what we needed: warm, steady days that let the sugars develop slowly, with just enough restraint from cool overnight temperatures to preserve the acid and keep the fruit from tipping into something overripe or jammy. The result is a wine that feels powerful, but not heavy. Dense, but not thick.

First, the color. Deep, dark, inky ruby — the kind of color that coats the glass. That's Calistoga Zinfandel telling you what it is without saying a word.

On the nose, you'll find dark fruit leading the way — black plum, boysenberry, a hint of dried cherry. But give it a moment. Let it breathe. There's something underneath: baking spice, a thread of black pepper, toasted oak, a whisper of espresso. Old vines don't shout. They layer.

On the palate, this wine opens broad and deep. Rich, concentrated fruit through the midpalate, velvety tannins, and a long, warm finish that echoes with spice and earth. There's an earthiness here that is unmistakably Calistoga — volcanic soil, mineral, ancient.

This isn't a wine trying to be elegant, this is a Zinfandel that is simply true.

The General Sherman tree will still be standing long after all of us are gone. It doesn't need to prove itself. It simply endures — massive, quiet, rooted in something deep.

Pairs great with braised short ribs, a fire-roasted rack of lamb, aged cheddar and dark chocolate.

Let it breathe. Give it time. Like its namesake, it rewards patience.