8 Impressive California Zinfandels at 90+ Points

It's all in the family, so to speak, with most of the Northern California wineries included in this week's Tasting Highlights. All but one of these producers are family-owned and -operated; and all of the wineries, below, show off one of the grapes California excels with: Zinfandel. Indeed, each of the wines in this lineup has notched 90 points or more on our 100-point scale.

Let's start with Graziano in Mendocino County. Third-generation winemaker Greg Graziano and his wife, Trudi, started Graziano in 1988. Graziano's roots run deep in Northern California: His ancestors immigrated to the Golden State from Piedmont, Italy, in the early 1900s, and his grandfather, Vincenzo, came to Mendocino and planted vineyards before Prohibition. (After the alcohol ban came into effect in 1920, he sold grapes and bootlegged wine to support his family.) Today, both the third and fourth generation of the family are hard at work, and Graziano's daughter, Alexandra, leads winemaking duties at the winery. Her vibrant 2019 Zinfandel shows cherry pie, smoked pepper and briar patch notes.

This lineup include Dry Creek's Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley Wallace Ranch DCV7 Vineyard 2021, one of the top scorers, a red with briar patch, red fruit, herb and pepper notes. Read on to get our score and full tasting note for this California Zinfandel and seven others.

Tasting Highlights' wine reviews are fresh out of the tasting room, offering a sneak peek of our editors' most recent ratings—including scores and full tasting notes—to WineSpectator.com members.
 

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