2016 Three Wine Company Zinfandel Bigelow Vineyard Contra Costa County

Hailing from one of California’s true heritage vineyards, Matt Cline’s Three Wine Co. Bigelow Vineyard is one of the greatest Zinfandels on the coast, and one of the most beloved Zins among Wine Access members: Their flood of top ratings put it in the echelon of giants like Ridge’s Geyserville and Lytton Springs bottlings.

The 2016 Bigelow Vineyard Zinfandel is Matt Cline’s love letter to an endangered and priceless plot of Contra Costa County. An ancient vines preservationist, Cline helped save the Bigelow Vineyard and its 130-year-old vines from development. As his reward, he reaped this rich and concentrated wine that Wine Enthusiast extolled as an “unusually expressive and complex Zinfandel,” noting that “this deep and concentrated wine seems to have a story to tell.”

It sure does. It’s thanks to Cline that the historic vines first planted by Marcus James Bigelow were saved from the bulldozer’s blade. Without Cline, these gnarled century-old vines would’ve been torn asunder by Contra Costa’s Bay Area real estate development magnates. “No developer is going to uproot a hundred years of history on my watch,” Matt told us. “Marcus planted the first vines on the property in the mid-1880s. Today, these 130-year-old vines eke out minuscule quantities of tiny, thick-skinned berries. And this is the result.” 

Take a sip and you’ll share Matt’s passion for these vines—they produce a profound concentration like you rarely find in the state. The complex aromas feature black fruit, dried strawberry, cedar, and a spectrum of spices. Warmth and richness on the palate carry dark fruit and pepper, with a kiss of pine sap on the finish. Matt rounds out his blend with Petite Sirah and smaller dashes of Carignan and Alicante, enriching the wine’s depth and aromatics. 

Prior Bigelow Vineyard offers have sent the member praise machine into a frenzy. “Everything you can ask for in a Zin,” said one reviewer. “A top-notch Zin,” lauded another. “It just keeps getting better,” raved a third. That’s certainly true of this 2016, which boasts a 93-point score and an incredible price.

If you stop by Bigelow Vineyard southeast of Antioch, you’ll find thick trunks of bush-trained vines planted on Contra Costa County’s loamy Delhi sands. The vineyard looks like an otherworldly landscape compared to the neatly manicured rows of Napa or Bordeaux, and Bigelow’s unique appearance foreshadows its equally intriguing wines. Resembling beach sand, the soil stresses the vines, driving high concentration but reducing overall production. 

The result is darkly colored, densely flavored wines (like this one) that are nearly impossible to resist upon release, but gorgeous after a few years in the cellar. This is a sumptuous and carefully crafted window into winemaking history.

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Acidity
• Tannin

• ABV 15.40%
• Enjoy right away
• Now – 2029
• % Zinfandel
• Serving temperature – 62°
• Cork