ABOUT THIS WINE
This wine is the debut ros for Breaking Bread. Having made Grenache Ros for the last 15 years for Kokomo Winery, I wanted to take a different, more hands-off approach with this Zinfandel Ros. When making unfined and unfiltered white and ros wines, stability is critical. To make this ros stable it had to go completely through secondary fermentation (malolactic) so as not to referment in the bottle. With our more traditional ros, we fine the proteins out with an organic clay as well as cold stabilize the wine for aesthetic purposes. In this wine, you will find sediment and proteins visible, giving it a somewhat hazy and unfiltered look. This is deliberate and something that I love about natural wines. Zinfandels abundant natural acidity makes it the perfect varietal for this style of intentional rose. These grapes were picked at 19.5 Brix to result in a 12.3% alcohol.
This wine was sourced from Chiquita Vineyard, located directly across the street from our winery in Dry Creek Valley. It was planted in 1963 and is 100% dry farmed. Its old head pruned vines are iconic to the Dry Creek Valley and gave us a delicious expression of the most esteemed grape in the valley.
ABOUT THIS PRODUCER
Erik Miller’s interest in natural wine came about as he noticed a shift in the wine industry toward lower alcohol, food friendly and low intervention wine. When he decided to start Breaking Bread, it was very important to his, artistically, to build something completely different than his first conception, Kokomo. He wanted to be challenged in his craft as a winemaker and he also wanted to understand fermentation from a different perspective that could possibly play a part in future Kokomo vintages.
In searching out vineyards for Breaking Bread, it was imperative to find vines with age and that are dry farmed, because the goal is to have physiological ripeness come at lower sugar levels. With older vines, we can achieve lower alcohol content by picking earlier but still have great complexity. He also knows that the focus of this brand had to be Zinfandel. As a California winemaker, he believes that there is no grape more special than Zinfandel. Old heritage Zinfandel vines that have been in the ground for over 100 years are unique to the region and have such a storied past. They embody the historical roots of natural wines. Unfortunately, this varietal has had a poor reputation for being over alcoholic, slightly sweet and a jammy mess of fruit. White Zinfandel did not help his cause. He wanted to give California Zinfandel a new and fresh face.
Creating Breaking Bread has informed his approach to winemaking. Erik has the technical foundation and confidence of someone who has been making wine successfully for nearly two decades, and the curiosity and inspiration to make high quality, delicious natural wines and this is just the beginning!
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