Rafanelli arafanelliwinery.com
4685 W Dry Creek Rd, Healdsburg, CA 95448
(707) 433-1385
The winery was founded in the early 1900's by Alberto Rafanelli, who emigrated from Italy. The winery moved to its present location in the 1950's. By the early 1970's, they were selling their wines under their own label, still used today. Zinfandel has always been their bread and butter with many considering theirs to be one of the best Zins of the region. They make only one Zinfandel, about 6500 cases per year, with all grapes coming from their estate, as is true of all of their wines. They also make a fine Cabernet (3500 cases) and a little Merlot (500 cases). In addition, they make a very small production reserve Cabernet called Terrace Select (250 cases). They are still family owned and operated.
All of their wine is sold directly, mostly to consumers, some to restaurants. Because of this, you will almost never see their wines being sold in a store. Shelly Rafanelli is their winemaker (4th generation) and eldest daughter of David and Patty Rafanelli. Shelly's husband, Craig Fehlman, is vineyard manager. Shelly's younger sister Stacy handles customer relations and is often found in the tasting room (Tastings are by appointment only). Milo and Bodie, their two white labs, were the first to greet us, when we stepped out of our car. Once inside, we were lucky enough to have Shelly as our guide, who was a joy.
89+ 2008 Rafanelli Cabernet Sauvignon (Dry Creek Valley) $45
93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot 14.5%alc
Overall: Very deep purple black garnet color. Bouquet shows concentrated cassis fruit with prominent cedar and green tobacco. Also slight matchstick. Heavyweight with lots of tannin, fortunately it has loads of cassis fruit to counter it. Flavor shows more briar and tobacco with bitterness from tannin. Finish shows spicy black pepper. A serious Cabernet with old school, hard tannins. Needs time, but should reward patience with its concentrated fruit. I'd say 8-10 years.Final Thoughts: This is a family operation that's livin' it their way. There's no glitz here, just down to earth goodness. Unfortunately for us, they were sold out of their Zinfandel and Merlot (same price as their Cabernet). So, we only got to taste the Cabernet. I've had their Zinfandel a couple of times and it's big, classic Dry Creek Valley Zin. I'd love to try their Merlot, never had it. Their Cabernets are very big and structured. What I like to call Old School, since they require patience and we live in a wine world where patience tends to be lacking. I had their '94 Cabernet in 2007 and it was just peaking. It also happened to be drownright terrific! One of the best Cabernets made in the Dry Creek Valley. Their Terrace Select ($90) may be the best Cabernet made in the DCV, by many accounts. I've never had this one either, but I can believe it, based on the quality of their regular Cabernet.
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