Dry Creek Vineyard, whose reputation for premium Zinfandel dates back more than 30 years, recently released its 2002 Old Vine Zinfandel, graced with an elegant new label. The powerful new look and feel of the packaging, coupled with the quality of wine in the bottle, leaves little doubt about Dry Creek Vineyard’s commitment to the Zinfandel category.

Having coined the term “Old Vine” Zinfandel in the early 1980’s, Dry Creek Vineyard established itself as a benchmark producer. However, with the term Old Vine becoming more diluted within the industry, the winery felt that a radical shift in packaging was warranted. The 2002 vintage was given a more modern, “da Vinci” look and feel, but also stays true to the sailing ship theme which graces the rest of the winery’s labels. One important component of the new package was communicating the average vine age of 80 to 109 years on the front label. “We felt that communicating the vine age was extremely important,” said winery proprietor Kim Stare Wallace. “By including this information, we’re telling our customers that this wine comes from truly Old Vines. It gives validation and significance to what is in the bottle.”

The Old Vine Zinfandel package also completes the label transformation of Dry Creek Vineyard’s core and single-vineyard offerings, providing a modern and refreshed look for the entire line up of wines.

Dry Creek Vineyard defines Old Vine Zinfandel as wine that is produced from vines averaging at least 50 years in age or older.

With average vine yields of less than 1.5 tons per acre, winemaker William Knuttel handles each lot with the utmost care and attention. Five vineyards contribute Zinfandel and a touch of Petite Sirah to the final blend, with Dry Creek Vineyard’s oldest vines dating back to 1896. Beeson Ranch is perhaps the best known of these Old Vine vineyards, having been planted by Italian immigrants in the late 1800’s. Extending along the western slope of Dry Creek Valley, Beeson Ranch provides fruit for one of Dry Creek Vineyard’s single-vineyard wines, Beeson Ranch Zinfandel.