Schmiedt Road Zinfandel
⏳ Drinking Window
2024 - 2028
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Barbecued beef brisket, grilled pork chops, roasted duck
✨ Technical Specifications
Hailing from the sandy, wind-swept soils of Lodi's Mokelumne River AVA, Bedrock Wine Co.'s Schmiedt Road Zinfandel is a tribute to one of California's most historic winegrowing corridors. Schmiedt Road is home to some of the region's most treasured old-vine Zinfandel plantings, meticulously tended by multi-generational farming families. Sourced primarily from these centenarian vines, the wine showcases the unique signature of Lodi's fine sandy loam: an incredibly perfumed, elegant, and red-fruited expression of Zinfandel that defies the heavy, over-ripe stereotypes of the region. Bedrock utilizes traditional, low-intervention winemaking techniques, including native yeast fermentation and aging in mostly used French oak barrels, to preserve the vibrant acidity, bright cherry and wild berry notes, and delicate spice that define this historic terroir.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 2007 by Morgan Twain-Peterson MW—later joined by partner Chris Cottrell—Bedrock Wine Co. began in a converted chicken coop with an urgent viticultural ethos: preserving California's precious heritage vineyards. The winery works closely with ancient, multi-varietal field blends across diverse terroirs, including volcanic, alluvium, granitic, and decomposed limestone parcels spanning Sonoma Valley, Contra Costa County, and the Central Coast. Central to the estate's identity is the historic Bedrock Vineyard, originally planted in 1854, which achieved Regenerative Organic Certification. Bedrock champions dry farming, minimal intervention, and historic head-trained vines. In the cellar, Twain-Peterson employs spontaneous native yeast fermentation, whole-cluster inclusions, and neutral wood, studiously avoiding chemical adjustments or excessive extraction. Beyond its legendary red heritage bottlings, Bedrock crafts benchmark whites and rosés—including the perfumed Compagni Portis Heirloom White, crystalline Wirz Vineyard Riesling, and artisanal expressions of Bien Nacido Chardonnay and Ode to Lulu Rosé—each presenting remarkable tension, saline minerality, and profound historic authenticity.