The 2018 Zinfandel Mead Ranch opens with cracked pepper and tar with notions of charcuterie, apricots, potpourri and dried red and black berry fruits. medium to full-bodied, it's bright, juicy and open with appealing, spicy fruits and a long, uplifted finish.

The 2017 Zinfandel Mead Ranch has a deep ruby-purple color and very spicy, Syrah-like nose of cracked black pepper, smoked meats, fried herbs and herbal hints with incredibly dense, lush blue and black fruits at the core. Medium to full-bodied with savory, spicy dark fruits in the mouth, it's framed by firm, ripe tannins and just enough freshness to lift the very long, dense, savory finish. 850 cases produced.

A wine that might be confused with a Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, the 2016 Zinfandel Mead Ranch hails from a site on Atlas Peak that's frequently clouded in fog. Wafting from the glass with aromas of ripe cherries, dark spices and rose petals, it's full-bodied, ample, and quite open-knit, with a giving profile despite the underlying chassis of firm mountain tannins that its generous core of fruit largely conceals. Passalacqua contends that this site's high levels of malic acid—and correspondingly high levels of lactic acid—account for its creamy mid-palate.

The 2014 Zinfandel Mead Ranch from the red volcanic soils of Atlas Peak exhibits loads of briary berry fruit, plenty of loamy underlying earthiness and forest floor, spice, pepper and fruitcake notes. It is a big, spicy, rich and complex, and no shy wine at 15.9% alcohol. Drink it over the next 7-8 years. By Turley’s standards, these are relatively young vines – planted in the 1970s!

From a high-elevation vineyard in Atlas Peak, the 2013 Zinfandel Mead Ranch (16.1% alcohol) has its origins at a site planted in 1880, although Larry Turley’s block dates only from 1970. The vines are head-pruned and the soils purely volcanic. One the profound Zinfandels from Turley in 2013, this wine is locked-and-loaded, so to speak – powerful, packed, rich, and full-bodied, with blackberry, blueberry, black raspberry and cherry fruit in abundance. It is obviously full-bodied, thick, even unctuously textured, while it seems to have slightly less acidity than some of the other cuvées – or at least, that’s how it presents itself. This is a stunner to drink over the next 10-12+ years. It is a great Zinfandel and one of the most sumptuous and exotic in the portfolio.