Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel 2022 is a Contra Costa County red from Cline Family Cellars, bottled in a single 750ml format at 14.5% ABV / 29 proof. Cline draws this wine primarily from a wide selection of its oldest, historic, shy-bearing blocks along the sandy banks of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers delta. Some vines were planted in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and the estate describes these old Contra Costa vineyards as head-pruned and dry-farmed.
Cline describes this Ancient Vines bottling with strawberry, cherry, and raspberry aromas and flavors, followed by touches of mocha and vanilla. Exact-vintage commerce notes additional coffee and chocolate character, ripe fruit, soft tannins, and subtle vanilla from aging in new and used wood. The result is a generous old-vine Zinfandel whose fruit remains central while oak adds warmth and structure, with the bottle’s label emphasizing more than a century of dry-farmed vine history in Contra Costa County.