Which Paso Robles winery makes the best Zinfandel?
Boye & Yarrow, at a Crux Score of 92. Cruxvine scores 19 Paso Robles producers whose lead grape is Zinfandel; their median score is 84 and their median bottle is $61.
Every Paso Robles producer Cruxvine scores whose lead grape is Zinfandel, ranked. Median Crux Score 84, median bottle $61.
A hundred-point tasting room attached to fourteen hundred cases of estate Zinfandel; the hard part is getting the bottle, not the seat.
Eight hundred cases, 40% estate, $104: you are paying for scarcity and for somebody else's vineyard.
Seventeen wines, all estate, $60, and not one of the last ten vintages below 83.
A value score of 98 at $41 — and 2024 is the best vintage Whitcomb Vista has made in a decade.
A 95-point room in front of Zinfandel whose vintages run from 82 to 93 — the welcome is steadier than the wine.
Pays Cruxvine $149 a month for a claimed listing and scores 89 anyway, which is what a claimed listing is worth.
Fourteen thousand cases from five wines, transparency at 96 — a large producer that behaves like a small one.
Eight hundred cases split across eighteen wines is a lot of ambition; the Zinfandel is where it lands.
| # | Producer & verdict | Crux | Avg | Value | Δ med 84 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =13 | Boye & Yarrow Adelaida District · Zinfandel · Paso Robles A hundred-point tasting room attached to fourteen hundred cases of estate Zinfandel; the hard part is getting the bottle, not the seat. | 92 | $102 | 80 | +8 | |
| =30 | Hemsley & Ulmer Adelaida District · Zinfandel · Paso Robles Eight hundred cases, 40% estate, $104: you are paying for scarcity and for somebody else's vineyard. | 90 | $104 | 81 | +6 | |
| =30 | Larkin & Wexler Paso Robles Highlands District · Zinfandel · Creston Seventeen wines, all estate, $60, and not one of the last ten vintages below 83. | 90 | $60 | 91 | +6 | |
| =30 | Whitcomb Vista Santa Margarita Ranch · Zinfandel · Santa Margarita A value score of 98 at $41 — and 2024 is the best vintage Whitcomb Vista has made in a decade. | 90 | $41 | 98 | +6 | |
| =37 | Cordell Fork Templeton Gap District · Zinfandel · Templeton A 95-point room in front of Zinfandel whose vintages run from 82 to 93 — the welcome is steadier than the wine. | 89 | $62 | 91 | +5 | |
| =37 | Hemsley Trail Willow Creek District · Zinfandel · Paso Robles Pays Cruxvine $149 a month for a claimed listing and scores 89 anyway, which is what a claimed listing is worth. | 89 | $98 | 78 | +5 | |
| =37 | Huer Huero Rise Paso Robles Highlands District · Zinfandel · Creston Fourteen thousand cases from five wines, transparency at 96 — a large producer that behaves like a small one. | 89 | $64 | 86 | +5 | |
| =37 | Pell & Hollis San Miguel District · Zinfandel · San Miguel Eight hundred cases split across eighteen wines is a lot of ambition; the Zinfandel is where it lands. | 89 | $83 | 83 | +5 | |
| =51 | Barn Terrace El Pomar District · Zinfandel · Templeton Eighteen wines from eight hundred estate cases at $42, additions published in full — small, cheap, and unusually frank. | 88 | $42 | 92 | +4 | |
| =104 | Highland Grade San Juan Creek · Zinfandel · Shandon Thirty-five dollars, free to taste, value at 91, and 2024 ties its best vintage on record — the discovery of the lower half. | 84 | $35 | 91 | ±0 | |
| =104 | Marrow Cellars Adelaida District · Zinfandel · Paso Robles Fifty-one years old, eight hundred cases, thirteen wines and a room at 89; the Zinfandel is the least interesting thing here. | 84 | $83 | 72 | ±0 | |
| =104 | Prewitt & Halloran San Miguel District · Zinfandel · San Miguel Ninety-six per cent estate Zinfandel across eighteen wines, and a $50 fee that value at 75 does not support. | 84 | $83 | 75 | ±0 | |
| =147 | Highland Furrow Paso Robles Geneseo District · Zinfandel · Paso Robles An 89-point room in front of $83 Zinfandel with value at 69 — Highland Furrow is priced for a wine it does not make. | 81 | $83 | 69 | −3 | |
| =147 | Lindqvist Furrow El Pomar District · Zinfandel · Templeton Fourteen thousand cases, four wines, 92% estate, walk-in — Lindqvist Furrow does one thing at scale and does it evenly. | 81 | $61 | 74 | −3 | |
| =159 | Hollis Bend Paso Robles Geneseo District · Zinfandel · Paso Robles The 2024 is the best wine Hollis Bend has made in thirty-one years, which is worth knowing before you order the flight. | 80 | $54 | 78 | −4 | |
| =167 | Jack Terrace San Juan Creek · Zinfandel · Shandon Nine thousand cases of $51 Zinfandel that scores 77 for quality — the value is real and so is the ceiling. | 79 | $51 | 85 | −5 | |
| =173 | Calf Bench San Juan Creek · Zinfandel · Shandon Ten wines, 88% estate, walk-in, $45 — Calf Bench is unremarkable in every direction and priced as though it were not. | 78 | $54 | 76 | −6 | |
| =179 | Peachy Hollow San Juan Creek · Zinfandel · Shandon Fourteen thousand cases and a $50 fee for wine that scores 76: the most expensive way to be disappointed in San Juan Creek. | 76 | $60 | 75 | −8 | |
| =183 | Chalk Field Paso Robles Estrella District · Zinfandel · Paso Robles Seventeen wines from a hundred per cent estate fruit, founded 2015, quality at 74 — the vineyard is young and it shows. | 75 | $36 | 79 | −9 |
Boye & Yarrow, at a Crux Score of 92. Cruxvine scores 19 Paso Robles producers whose lead grape is Zinfandel; their median score is 84 and their median bottle is $61.
Among the 19 Paso Robles producers Cruxvine scores with Zinfandel as their lead grape, the median Crux Score is 84, against 85 for the appellation across all grapes.