Once & Future 'Frank's Block' Teldeschi Vineyard Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley, California 2022

Once & Future is the small-production project of Joel Peterson, the founding winemaker of Ravenswood and one of the seminal figures in California Zinfandel. After nearly 45 years in the wine business — including shepherding Ravenswood from a handful of barrels to one of the world's most recognized Zinfandel brands — Peterson returned to his original vision: wines from special old vineyards, made with minimal intervention and a deep sensitivity to place. Open-top redwood fermenters, hand punch-downs, extended macerations, native yeast, gentle transfers, and small French oak aging define the house style — all done by hand. 
The Teldeschi Vineyard has been central to Peterson's work since the early 1980s, when a handshake deal over a long Italian lunch with Frank and Caterina Teldeschi began a relationship that would eventually produce one of Ravenswood's most celebrated single-vineyard wines. At Once & Future, Peterson returns to "Frank's Block" — the oldest and most prized block on the ranch — as a standalone expression.

• WINEMAKER: Joel Peterson (LEGEND!!)
• FARMING: Traditionally farmed — head-pruned, deep-plowed, cross-cultivated, and dry-farmed
• VARIETY: 83% Zinfandel, 9% Carignane, 8% Alicante Bouschet — co-fermented from a single mixed block.
• TERROIR: Located in the heart of Dry Creek Valley on the Eastside bench land, Teldeschi Vineyard occupies one of the finest positions in a valley widely regarded as among the world's best terroirs for Zinfandel. Frank's Block is planted in cobbly Tuscan Red Hill Series soils and dates to approximately 1900, making it the oldest block on the ranch. Yields are around 1.5 tons per acre. Vines were approximately 118 years old at the time of the 2022 harvest.
• VINIFICATION: Co-fermented field blend in open-top redwood fermenters with native yeasts. Hand punch-downs and extended maceration.
• AGING: Aged in small French oak cooperage.
• TASTING NOTES: Dark-toned and brooding, with blackberry, leather, game, spice, tobacco, and menthol. Striking energy that builds with time in the glass; dense and persistent on the finish.
• FOOD PAIRINGS: Braised wild boar, lamb osso buco, aged pecorino, smoked duck, hearty ragù.
• SCORES: 94 pts Vinous, Antonio Galloni (January 2024)