2023 Ravenswood MacMurray Zinfandel estate spotlight
The market on this bottle
U.S. shop listings for this bottle, before sales tax. Auctions and clearance specials are left out. The Wine-Searcher low is $43.72, so this bottle is $44. The average is $50. Checked 2026-10-06.
Sonoma County Zinfandel
2023 Ravenswood Winery MacMurray Vineyard Zinfandel, Sonoma County, USA
The hilltop Zinfandel on Fred MacMurray's ranch, bottled on its own.
Fred MacMurray's Sonoma ranch was planted in the 1990s, and the Zinfandel block at the highest point used to disappear into the blend. Ravenswood now bottles that block alone. James Suckling scored the 2023 a 94 in May 2026, and The SOMM Journal scored it 92 in August 2025. The bottle is $44.
The block they used to blend away
The vines went in during the 1990s on Fred MacMurray's Sonoma ranch. The Zinfandel at the top of the hill was the lot they used to blend away. This 2023 is that block, bottled alone.
Michael Eddy-Cort tastes red fruit, Linzer tart, black raspberry, and green peppercorn, with Hungarian oak in the frame. If the block they used to hide is the one they now bottle by itself, why go back to the blend it used to disappear into?
The ranch
Fred MacMurray's Sonoma ranch, with vines planted in the 1990s.
The block
One Zinfandel block at the highest point, the lot that used to be blended away.
The bottle
Ravenswood now bottles that hilltop block alone.
The glass
Michael Eddy-Cort tastes red fruit, Linzer tart, black raspberry, green peppercorn, and Hungarian oak.
James Suckling 94. The SOMM Journal 92.
James Suckling scored the 2023 a 94 in May 2026. The SOMM Journal scored it 92 in August 2025.
The winery line is pronounced red fruit, fresh-cracked pepper, and spice. Eddy-Cort adds Linzer tart, black raspberry, green peppercorn, and Hungarian oak.
Red fruit, pepper, and spice
Pronounced red fruit, fresh-cracked pepper, and spice. Under that, Linzer tart, black raspberry, and green peppercorn, with Hungarian oak in the frame.
Open the 2023 at $44. Twelve bottles ship free in the lower 48. Hawaii and Alaska are quoted on their own.
Pronounced red fruit and Linzer tart.
Black raspberry and green peppercorn.
Fresh-cracked pepper, spice, and Hungarian oak.
A hilltop block, kept whole
The Zinfandel at the top of the ranch used to vanish into other blends. This vintage stands by itself.
MacMurray Ranch was Fred MacMurray's Sonoma place, and the vines went in during the 1990s.
The Zinfandel block at the highest point was the fruit they used to blend away. Ravenswood bottles it alone in this 2023.
Michael Eddy-Cort reads the glass as red fruit, Linzer tart, black raspberry, and green peppercorn, with Hungarian oak around it. The winery says pronounced red fruit, fresh-cracked pepper, and spice.
Fred MacMurray's ranch, then one block
A Sonoma ranch from a Hollywood life, planted in the 1990s, with one high block that finally has its own bottle.
The ranch belonged to Fred MacMurray, and the vines were planted there in the 1990s.
One Zinfandel block sits at the highest point. For years that fruit was blended away.
Ravenswood now keeps that block together and bottles it on its own.
Sausages and peppers, then a fennel pizza
Cracked pepper and spice want grilled Italian sausage and sweet peppers, and the red fruit can take fennel on a pizza.
Two plates. Grilled Italian sausages with peppers. A fennel pizza. Both can take red fruit, pepper, and spice.
Open and pour. This Zinfandel does not need a decant.
Grilled Italian sausages with peppers
Italian sausages grilled beside sweet and sour peppers and onions.
Why it works: The char and the sweet pepper meet fresh-cracked pepper, and the sausage fat carries the red fruit.
View Recipe for Grilled Italian sausages with peppers (opens in a new tab)Fennel pizza
A pizza topped with thinly sliced fennel, charred tomatoes, and mozzarella.
Why it works: Fennel and tomato pick up the spice and the Linzer-tart fruit without burying them.
View Recipe for Fennel pizza (opens in a new tab)Pour the hilltop block
James Suckling scored the 2023 a 94, The SOMM Journal scored it 92, and the bottle is $44.
Open the 2023 MacMurray Ranch Zinfandel with grilled Italian sausages and peppers.
