94 Wine & Spirits

"2007 Napa Valley Antaeus (Best Buy) Zinfandel brings out the delicate side of cabernet in this blend from the Seps's estate in the hills above Calistoga. Jerry Seps farms organically and ferments the wine without inoculated yeast, allowing the purity of the fruit character and the layers of earthy complexity to show through. The wine hits an astonishing balance in this vintage, rich without weight. And while I have notes on the multihued berry flavors, the floral scents of violets and Earl Grey tea, it's the texture that sets this wine apart, the love child of cabernet's growling tannins and zin's gentler caress. Not to be missed." 94 points Wine & Spirits

WINE:
"A blend of Zinfandel with Bordeaux varieties, drawing from our land the best qualities of each area of our estate, to yield an intense wine of great complexity." -Winery

WINERY:
"Storybook Mountain has established a world-wide reputation for the consistently high quality of its wines. The Zinfandel tradition began at Storybook Mountain in the early 1880s when its red clay-loam hillsides in the Mayacamas Range were first planted to this varietal. Here, an ideal match of terroir and grape allows Zinfandel to show its true potential."

"Storybook Mountain's sought-after estate wines are carefully hand-crafted from choice grapes grown in certified organic estate vineyards surrounding the winery. They are aged at least 12 months in the best French, Hungarian and American oak barrels, inside century-old caves dug deep into the mineral-rich volcanic rock underlying the hand-tended vineyard."

"Proprietors Jerry and Sigrid Seps' wines are famed for intensity and longevity. Raspberries, black cherries and spice are the essence of their complex, well balanced and elegant wines." -Winery

This was rated 87 points by the Wine Advocate and the Wine Enthusiast.