Winery Notes: Our flagship Napa Valley Zinfandel historically has borne the responsibility of being the ultimate representative of what our property and its unique microclimate have to offer - the cream of the Brown Estate zinfandel crop blended into one stellar wine. As such, it is the most challenging zin we produce because it requires commingling of several distinct personalities into a singular well- adjusted protagonist. The fact that each vineyard's qualities complement and enhance the others' virtues is a testament to the integration, fluidity, and perpetual motion - the balancing act! - that is Brown Estate itself. Eye: Garnet/magenta core with ruby rim. Nose Climbing rose, musk, myrrh, fresh English lavender, citrus, sweet clove, dark black fruits, Asian apple, hibiscus, candied apple, apricot taffy, morning garden, forest bramble. Palate Full-bodied, ripe, gentle tannins. 750ml bottle In 1980, the Brown family acquired land in the hills east of Rutherford in the Napa Valley. They were farmers first, and farmers they remain. In 1995, the Browns decided on the strength of their fruit to make wine under their own label. The following year, they produced their first vintage of zinfandel, and along the way added cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, petite sirah, and the occasional dessert wine. In 2010, the Brown family celebrated thirty years in the Napa Valley and Brown Estate's fifteenth crush. Over the years, the farming philosophy has not changed: Fifty acres of vineyards are planted amidst 450 acres of roughneck wilderness that they strive to tend rather than tame – from the occasional inconvenient honeybee hive in the winery - to the prickly star thistles in their vineyards that are a part of their ecosystem. Their winemaking philosophy adheres to the principle of purity: They let the vineyard (and Mother Nature, of course) guide the way, and from what the harvest yields, they seek to extract the purest expression of the exquisite fruit this land continues to give.