Sandlands 2024 Zinfandel Contra Costa County

750ml botle
14.2% abv

Potent and dense, with black cherry, lavender, licorice, espresso, menthol, and sage beautifully amplified in the glass. Imposing tannins at this stage with considerable structure and depth. Will benefit from a few years in bottle.

100% Zinfandel from Kirschenmann Vineyard, planted in the 1920s in Dehli blow sand, a wind-deposited sandy soil unique to the Contra Costa flatlands east of the Bay. Dry-farmed, organically farmed, ancient-vine fruit farmed without irrigation or chemical inputs.

Native yeast fermentation. Whole cluster inclusion. Aged in used oak. No fining, no filtration. Minimal sulfur.

Kirschenmann Vineyard, Oakley, Contra Costa County. Dehli blow sand over decomposed granite subsoil, the defining terroir of the Contra Costa flatlands. The Contra Costa AVA was formally established in March 2024, making this one of the first vintages to carry the full AVA designation.

The Contra Costa Zinfandel is the most site-specific red in the range. The Kirschenmann Vineyard's Dehli blow sand produces a Zinfandel unlike the richer, more extracted versions from warmer inland sites, with the sandy soil forcing deep root penetration and limiting vigor in a way that preserves structure and restraint even in a warm vintage like 2024. The 2024 is the most powerful vintage of the wine in recent memory and will reward patience.

Sandlands is the personal project of Tegan and Olivia Passalacqua, launched alongside Tegan's role as winemaker and vineyard manager at Turley Wine Cellars. The project is built around forgotten California varieties grown in old, multigenerational vineyards that have remained outliers in California viticulture, featuring Zinfandel, Mataro, Carignane, Trousseau, Chenin Blanc, and Syrah from sites in Contra Costa, Lodi, and Amador County. Tegan was named Winemaker of the Year by a major trade publication, and Sandlands is consistently cited as one of the most important small California producers working with heritage varieties. 

Tegan, a Napa Valley native, got his start in the wine industry working in winery labs in Napa. He has worked in the cellars of Craggy Range in New Zealand with Doug Wisor, with Eben Sadie in the Swartland of South Africa, and with Alain and Maxime Graillot in the Northern Rhone Valley of France. For the past twenty years, he has worked for Turley Wine Cellars, working his way up from harvest intern to Winemaker/Vineyard Manager.