100% Zinfandel

Food pairings: Barbecue, burgers, pizza, tacos, grilled pork or chicken and red-meat dishes, tomato-based pasta, charcuterie, and cheeses such as aged Cheddar, Gouda and Manchego.

Winemaking: The grapes are hand-harvested and fermented in open-top fermenters after a two- to four-day cold soak, with two to three punch-downs a day. The 2023 was aged for nine months in French oak, 10% of it new. 2023 was one of the coolest California vintages in more than a decade: abundant winter and spring rains erased years of drought, budbreak was delayed until April, and moderate temperatures through spring and summer allowed balanced ripening and picking at the perfect intersection of flavor, sugar, acidity and tannin. Harvest for Party Line ran from September 8 to October 12.

Vineyards and terroir: Vibrant and versatile, Party Line is a classic Zinfandel from vineyards throughout California. The 2023 is sourced from family growers, farming for multiple generations, in Solano, Contra Costa, Lake and Sonoma Counties, with fruit farmed sustainably.

Family history: Party Line celebrates the tradition of Zinfandel among California's winegrowing families and the days when shared telephone lines, called party lines, were common in rural areas. In 1937 Pietro Biale planted Zinfandel among the walnuts, prunes and vegetables on his ranch on the Napa Valley floor. After his death in 1942, his teenage son Aldo kept the farm going with his mother, and to keep his bootleg jugs of homemade Zinfandel a secret from neighbors and the authorities, he used the code name "black chicken" when orders came in over the party line with the eggs and produce. Aldo and his son Bob Biale founded Robert Biale Vineyards in 1991 with partners Dave Pramuk and Al Perry. Still family owned, the winery on Big Ranch Road in Napa specializes in old-vine Zinfandel and Petite Sirah from historic vineyards.

In the pictures: Bob Biale pruning an old Zinfandel vine; the tasting patio overlooking the vineyard at Robert Biale Vineyards in Napa; and a Biale picking bin between the vines at harvest (photos courtesy of Robert Biale Vineyards).