2021 Palisades Vineyard Petite Sirah
Calistoga, Napa Valley
Domenico Barberis was a young immigrant from the same village in Italy—Murialdo—as Bob Biale’s grandmother, Nonna Cristina Biale. Barberis came to Calistoga in 1902 and started a vineyard and ranch as well as his large family on a scenic property on Horns Creek in the Palisades.
These dramatic west-facing cliffs are composed of igneous rock and were formed from volcanic upheaval millennia ago. The geological formation stretches for over two miles and reaches elevations at over 3000 ft. It’s no wonder the farmland below is perfectly suited to wine grapes. An active creek bed, stones, gravel, and well-drained soil, not to mention extended sunlight, are ideal conditions for ripening grapes for red wines.
Retail $65 | Society Price $59
2022 Bedrock Vineyard Zinfandel
Sonoma Valley
One of the oldest and grandest Zinfandel vineyards of them all is situated in the heart of Sonoma Valley. It traces back to the Civil War era, was replanted in the 1880s under the ownership of Senator George Hearst, and came under its new ownership in the 2000s. Father and son, Joel Peterson and Morgan Twain-Peterson, took over what had been known as the Madrone Ranch, renamed it Bedrock, and began the long process of carefully restoring it to its former health and glory. Several top Zinfandel winemakers were invited to share fruit from the various blocks on this sizeable ranch that includes not only old Zinfandel vines, but Carignane, Alicante, Petite Sirah, Mataro, and various other forgotten varieties that the old winemakers loved to plant together in a field blending system called “mixed blacks.” Our Bedrock Zinfandel comes from a select block of non-irrigated 1880s vines that still kick out some delicious grapes.
Retail: $65 | Society Price: $59
2022 Black Chicken Zinfandel
Napa Valley
The heart of this wine is sourced from vineyards in the Oak Knoll District, among them the same family vineyard Aldo, Nonna, Bob, and the Biale family have farmed their whole lives. Additional sources are our estate vineyard surrounding the winery, neighboring growers in the Oak Knoll District, as well as other long-standing winegrowing families in the Napa Valley. Black Chicken stands as an iconic expression of Zinfandel from the Napa Valley.
Retail: $55 | Society Price: $50
2022 Falleri Vineyard Zinfandel
Calistoga, Napa Valley
This historic little vineyard of head-trained vines at the edge of town in Calistoga was planted by Italian immigrant Argentina Falleri in 1924. Today the vineyard is maintained by Argentina’s granddaughter, Sonya Spencer. Biale has been producing wine from this vineyard since 1993, which all started when hawk eyed Bob drove by the vineyard and saw the old head-trained vines. It just so turned out that these grapes were available and so the longstanding relationship began.
Retail: $65 | Society Price: $59
2022 Morisoli Vineyard Zinfandel
Rutherford, Napa Valley
The Morisoli family has been farming for over five generations in the heart of Napa Valley – Rutherford. The Zinfandel for Biale is sourced from the head-trained Zinfandel vines dating back to 1985, surrounded by rows of Cabernet Sauvignon. The winemaking style respects the terroir that the vines are grown in, known as “Rutherford dust,” with light, gravely soils which produce a bold and complex wine.
Retail: $68 | Society Price $61
2022 Nonna’s Vineyard Sangiovese
Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley
In 1993, two years after we started the winery, Aldo converted a small vineyard block behind his house to Sangiovese and named it after his mother. It turned out to be so good that we broke from our Zinfandel course and added it to the Biale repertoire.
What we’ve learned about Sangiovese is that it is prolific and needs to be kept in check. With that accomplished through some intensive farming, the wine takes on depth and complexity and vivid flavors. We’ve also found our Sangiovese to be cellar worthy – it ages surprisingly well.
Retail: $58 | Society Price: $52
2022 Old Kraft Vineyard Zinfandel
St Helena, Napa Valley
It’s a gratifying feeling knowing we helped to save a piece of Napa Valley vineyard history.
Instead of tearing out the original Zinfandel and Petite Sirah vines that were planted in the 1890s, Bill and Margie Hart decided to go with the recommendation of vineyard guru Bill Pease who saw potential in the craggy, twisted plants. Bob Biale was brought in to assist and a project ensued to revitalize this rare swath of winemaking history. Bill and Margie agreed to sell all the fruit to Biale with the hope of one day being able to vinify and vineyard designate this historic wine. Starting in 2002, drainage, irrigation, soil amendments, pruning, and inter-planting were utilized to bring the vineyard back to productive health, and in 2006 the wine was worthy of a new special bottling among the series of Biale Zinfandels.
Retail $62 | Society Price $56
2022 Royal Punishers Petite Sirah
Napa Valley
Petite Sirah was the most commonly planted grape in Napa Valley for nearly a century and now we are witnessing a resurgence and new appreciation for this historic hero variety!
Known for its dark color, firm structure, and deep blue and black fruit flavors, it is perfectly suited to Napa Valley’s moderate and dry growing season.
Retail: $55 | Society Price: $50
2022 R.W. Moore Vineyard Zinfandel
Coombsville, Napa Valley
The Moore Vineyard lies in the district’s middle with a looming Mt. George to the east, where a seafarer named Pleasant Ashley Stevens planted vines in 1905. Most of those vines still exist today thanks to the dedicated farming and wisdom of Bill Moore, a retired orthodontist who purchased the property in the 1980s. This is the oldest vineyard in Coombsville and amazingly enough – it is Zinfandel.
This vineyard is especially important to the wine industry now as its genetic heritage is being carefully preserved and propagated through the U.C. Davis Heritage Vineyard project. In other words, the genetic material from these historic vines is being saved for future generations of winemakers. In the meantime, we get to enjoy the immense pleasures that this Zinfandel brings.
Retail: $65 | Society Price $59
2022 Valsecchi Vineyard Zinfandel
Carneros, Sonoma Valley
This vineyard is one of Biale’s little gems—a beautiful Zinfandel from a small, inconspicuous site just outside the town of Sonoma, off Napa Road. Technically this vineyard lies just within the northern boundary of the Carneros Appellation which makes it very rare indeed – one of only a few Zinfandels and certainly the oldest existing vineyard within this AVA (American Viticultural Appellation).
Retail: $65 | Society Price: $65
2022 Varozza Vineyard Zinfandel
St. Helena, Napa Valley
We tend to forget that Napa Valley was founded not by faceless consortiums or companies, but by families. Hard-working farming families that plowed and ground out a life season by season, raising crops by which they made their livings and raised their children. According to the Napa Valley Vintners, Napa Valley which grows only 4% of California wine is surprisingly still 95% family-owned. There still remain a small number of those families that are Napa Valley originals. The Varozzas are one of those. Jack and Diana Varozza run the same ranch that goes back to Napa’s earliest days in the 1800s and has been in their family for over a century.
Retail: $62 | Society Price: $56
2023 Clementina Greco Bianco
Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley
It is believed that Greco has its origins in ancient Greece. However, it is identified as one of the great white grapes of Tufo, Campania, in Southern Italy. Complex, lean, and graceful, Greco wines are traditionally known to cellar extremely well up to 10 years. The alluvial soils and moderate climate of the Oak Knoll District are ideal conditions for a wide variety of vinifera grapes. Greco is a new entry in the district that shows wonderful promise for future winemaking. This wine is a tribute to Clementina Biale (1929-2017), wife of Aldo Biale and matriarch of the Biale Family.
Retail: $50 | Society Price: $45
2023 Rosato Dry Rosé
California
This dry Rosato has become a favorite among the rosé aficionados of the Biale Beloved.
Made in very small quantities for the spring and summer seasons ahead, this version by winemaker David Natali is made from a base of Sangiovese grapes and blended with a small amount of Zinfandel saigneé for added complexity and structure. This is a wonderful dry wine to keep on hand, chilled, for whenever the moment strikes you.
Retail: $42 | Society Price: $38