Carol Shelton Wines

SUSTAINABLE, SOME WINES ORGANIC

Carol Shelton is one of America’s most innovative and highly respected winemakers. With over 40 years making wines from some of California’s finest vineyard sites, Carol Shelton has won Winemaker of the Year ten times, twice in 2021 alone!

She has countless gold medals for her wines and was named one of eight Pioneer Women Winemakers of Sonoma County in 2005. She continues to win awards and accolades – her Wild Thing Zinfandel was included in the Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines of 2014 and again (yup!) in 2021. And when we say countless medals, it’s seriously countless. Here’s the list for just one vintage of one of her wines, the 2019 Rockpile Reserve Zin, and it’s pretty typical!

94 Points- Wine Spectator May 2023
91 Points – Connoisseur’s Guide to CA Wine, Jan 2022
DOUBLE GOLD Medal, 97 points - 2022 Sunset International Wine Competition
DOUBLE GOLD Medal, 94 points - 2022 Toast of the Coast Wine Competition
DOUBLE GOLD Medal - 2023 Pacific Rim International Wine Competition
GOLD Medal, 93 Points – 2022 Los Angeles County Fair Wine Competition
GOLD Medal, 93 Points – 2022 West Coast Wine Competition
GOLD Medal, 93 points – 2022 International Women’s Wine Competition
GOLD Medal, 93 points – 2022 North of the Gate Wine Competition
GOLD Medal, 92 Points – 2022 LA Invitational Wine Competition
GOLD Medal, 91 points – 2022 American Fine Wine Competition
GOLD Medal, 90 Points – 2023 San Diego International Wine Challenge
GOLD Medal, 90 Points – 2022 Orange County Fair Wine Competition
GOLD Medal – 2022 Concours d'Vin International Wine Competition
GOLD Medal - 2022 Sonoma County Harvest Fair Wine Competition
GOLD Medal – 2022 Dan Berger International Wine Competition
GOLD Medal – 2022 San Francisco International Wine Competition
GOLD Medal – 2023 Zin Challenge, Alameda

With many harvests under her belt and her passion for winemaking still strong, Carol Shelton has become an iconic woman winemaker. For Carol, the best is yet to come.

“Did you know...
Carol was one of the first dozen women to earn a degree in Oenology from UC Davis in 1978

Carol has received more awards than any other winemaker in the country in her 44 years as winemaker

Carol has been named Winemaker of the Year ten (yup, ten) times!

Her iconic Wild Thing Zin has won a whopping EIGHT gold medals!

Carol’s wines have been scored above 90 in the Spectator, Enthusiast and other publications far too many times to even count.

Carol has had FOUR different wines all featured in the Spectator’s “Top 100 Wines of the World” in the past seven years.

Carol’s Rendezvous Rose, which made the cover of the Spectator’s June 30 2018 issue, was the only American Rose included in that year’s Top 100.”

The Wines (italics from Carol)

Wild Thing Chardonnay (Dry Creek, Sustainable)

Carol’s Chardonnay is our golden-haired wild child, an exuberant and delectable mouthful of joy. Sourced from her estate vineyard in Dry Creek Valley, this vivacious white wine is a classic California Chardonnay with a delicate balance of richness and acidity to please all the Wild Things out there… Remember, you are what you drink!.

Wild Thing Viognier (Placer County, Sustainable)

High up in the Sierra Nevada, in the California Gold Country town of Auburn lies this gem of a vineyard of Viognier, planted and managed by the father and son team of John and Joe Damiano. When picked just a bit less ripe than many California Viogniers, the fruit expresses lively citrus and gentle white flower aromatics, while barrel fermentation in mostly older French oak barrels leads to a wine of perfect structure and creamy-crispy balance.

Coquille Blanc (Paso Robles with a bit of Mendocino, Sustainable)

Coquille is pronounced “ko-keel” and it is French for shellfish or scallop, like the scallop shells on the Shelton family coat of arms. Carol is well-known for her delicious Zinfandels, something not as well-known by her fans is her reverence for White Rhone-style blends. Coquille Blanc is the white wine she always wanted to make – exotic, complex, balanced, luscious and food friendly, it is the perfect complement for its French namesake, scallops, or any other shellfish, fish or poultry that might be on the menu. A Chateauneuf-Blanc style wine of Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Viognier & Marsanne.

Wild Thing Rendezvous Rose (Mendocino, Organic)

A rendezvous with friends is all the more delicious a pleasure over a bottle of luscious chilled dry rosé, hence the name of our Rendezvous Rosé. Created by bleeding half of the “pink” juice off of red grapes a full two days after crushing them, it is fermented cold like a white wine to retain every luscious drop of crisp strawberry fruitiness. The blend varies from year to year- through 2020 it was about 80% Carignane 20% Zin, in 2021 the Carignane crop failed so it was 80% Zin and 20% Carignane. The 2022 is 50% Carignane, 30% Zinfandel, 20% Petite Sirah… but in every vintage it’s a lush, powerful rose for red wine drinkers- this is one that can wash down burgers, grillled steaks… you name it!

Wild Thing Zinfandel (Mendocino, Organic)

Old Vine Mendocino Zinfandel is a treasure. Grown on the benchlands and slopes of mountainsides — this 60 plus year old vine Zinfandel was named for these wild- looking vines and also for the uninoculated, or “wild,” yeast ferment that was used to create it. It takes a lot of effort to tame this wild fruit, but it is worth all the trouble. Wild Thing is dangerously good! Remember – you are what you drink ….

Pizazz Zinfandel (Lodi)

We chose to honor Charlie Piazza’s half century of growing in Lodi by making an anagram of his name to christen this classic old-style Zin. These gnarly head-trained vines, planted back in 1970, deliver brilliant wild cherry jam on a milk chocolate-marshmallow background. S’more, please!

Rockpile Reserve Zinfandel (Rockpile)

Rockpile, an AVA created only in 2002 with about 15,000 acres of land (a mere 150 planted to vineyard), sits on the flank of Rockpile Creek, above Sonoma Lake and the Dry Creek Valley. Formerly part of the Dry Creek AVA, it was parsed off as a distinct terroir due to its steep rocky slopes, its position above the fog line and the unique concentration of its fruit. The name for our reserve wine, Rocky Reserve®, comes from the deep red, rocky soils of the Florence Vineyard in Rockpile, 1400 feet above Lake Sonoma and Dry Creek Valley. This is a more elegant and restrained Zin, worthy of ten or more years of cellaring, though it is enjoyable now since it is packed with fragrant black and blue berry fruits. For more info on the Rockpile AVA, read on, and for a map of the AVA with further discussion of the terroir, click here.

Monga Zinfandel (Cucamonga Valley, Organic)

Monga is BACK! Regrettably, these ancient vines don’t produce fruit every year, but when they do… wow!! Big, bold, spicy and complex, and unique in style and terroir, Monga is Old Vine Zinfandel from the Lopez Vineyard, located in Southern California’s Cucamonga Valley. And by "Old Vine" we mean REALLY old vine- planted in 1918 with roots stretching down past 90ft scrounging for water - these vines don't even produce every year, but when they do...

Karma Zinfandel (Bastoni Vinehard, Fountaingrove District, Sonoma County)

The name KarmaZin™ was bestowed in gratitude for the many gifts of good Karma received in life, whatever the source. When positive energy is put forth in hard work mixed with integrity, the giver is rewarded with success, the fulfillment of a dream. 85% Zinfandel 12% Alicante Bouschet, 3% Petite Sirah. 18 months in oak barrels--30% new Hungarian, 20% new French, 10% new American, 40% 2-year-old French. Very complexly layered spice and black fruits, lively! Dark chocolate, Creamy oak, a bit of vanilla cola, brown spices-nutmeg/cinnamon. Rich in mouth, good structure for aging, a bit chewy in its youth.

Coquille Rouge (87% Central Coast, 13% Sonoma, Sustainable)

Coquille Rouge is an American take on the southern Rhone. A blend of Mourvedre, Carignane, Petite Sirah, Alicante Bouchet, Grenache and a touch of Viognier, this is a supple, fruit-forward but balanced mouthful. The bulk of the fruit comes from century-old vines in Oakley, on the sands of the San Joaquin River delta. Phylloxera can’t gain a foothold in these soils, so these 100+ year-old vines are ungrafted! Notes of blackberry, charry, cranberry, blueberry and raspberry melded with a touch of warm dessert spices… drink in the spicy fruity goodness! 463 cases made.

Florence Vineyard Petite Sirah (Dry Creek Valley)

This Petite Sirah is farmed by legendary Rockpile grower Jack Florence on a well-draining, rocky riverbed vineyard. Located on the northern tip of Dry Creek Valley. Bright and jammy- a great example of what this variety can achieve in the right hands!

Oat Valley Carignane (Alexander Valley)

Back to the future at last! Carol used the vibrant red Carignane from these 60+ year old dry-farmed and head-trained vines at her long stint as winemaker at Windsor Vineyards, and now they have come “back home to mama!” These are our last grapes to harvest every year, but the resulting wine is well worth the wait.

Black Magic Late Harvest Zinfandel (Sonoma)

Every once in a while, a twist of fate can deal a quirky hand, and with a stroke of magic it can become an enchanting experience. Black Magic Late Harvest Zinfandel conjures up a charming finale for a delicious meal - lusciously jammy and sweet, it complements many foods from savory cheese plates to decadent chocolate desserts. Abracadabra! <Extremely Limited Production>