Baca "Home Base" 2022 Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County

The Baca “Home Base” 2022 Zinfandel opens with a quiet magnetism—blackberry and dark plum rush in, edged by herbal fennel and cocoa dust. That aroma isn’t designed to impress; it’s an echo of ridge-top air over limestone, deepening with no fanfare. 

On the palate, gravity holds sway. Fruit is expansive—brambly, generous—yet freshened by brisk acidity and framed in tannins fine enough to balance without clouding. A seam of mineral tension drives the finish, turning richness into structure. 

The site does the sculpting here. Fruit comes from the Dry Creek Valley’s eastern flank—Rudy’s Vineyard and Mauritson Home Ranch—planted on soils that warm early but release cold air at night. Vine age ranges from 40 to 70 years, layering complexity that feels earned, not added. 

Baca lets the vineyard lead. The Home Base blend leans 98% Zinfandel with a whisper of Petite Sirah, aged 10 months in 30% new French oak. That oak presence is felt subtly—as framing, not flourish. This is land meeting craft, not craft schooling land. 

This wine doesn’t burst. It lives. Open it when conversation slows: alongside grilled short ribs, pizza off the coals, or simply when the night deepens and the glass is invitation, not announcement.

Baca “Home Base” 2022 Zinfandel—Sonoma altitude in every sip, structure born of sun and stone.