The Prisoner Wine Company house spotlight
Chrissy Wittmann, director of winemaking at The Prisoner Wine Company, is on camera walking the house style behind Saldo. This bottle is the 2019 Zinfandel in 375ml.
375ML Half Bottle 2019 Saldo Zinfandel by Prisoner Wine Co
Chrissy Wittmann's Saldo Zinfandel in a half bottle, black cherry and baking spice, a 2019 you can open at fifteen dollars.
The 2019 Saldo is 85 percent Zinfandel with Petite Sirah and Syrah in 375ml: black licorice, black pepper, cherry, baking spice, and a hint of chocolate, now $15.
A half bottle of Saldo, not a leftover Prisoner red blend
Saldo means here and there in Latin. The Prisoner Wine Company built it from Zinfandel sites in Dry Creek, Lodi, and Amador that were too good to let go. Chrissy Wittmann keeps the 2019 on black licorice, black pepper, cherry, and baking spice, 85 percent Zinfandel with Petite Sirah and Syrah. This SKU is the 375ml. No 750ml market numbers on this page. Fifteen dollars against a $25 typical retail for the half bottle. This is the format for a rib night for two without opening a full bottle.
The house
Dave Phinney launched The Prisoner. Chrissy Wittmann now directs the cellar in St. Helena. Saldo is the Zin lane, fruit from here and there.
The wine
2019 California Zinfandel in 375ml. 85% Zinfandel with Petite Sirah and Syrah. Black cherry, licorice, baking spice.
The format
Half bottle. Two glasses. No 750ml price talk on this page. Typical retail on this format is $25.
The drinker
Decant 15 to 20 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Butter-basted ribeye or smoked ribs.
Black cherry and licorice, then pepper and chocolate
The published house note is dark ruby, bold aromas of black licorice, black pepper, cherry, and baking spice, then a rich, mouthwatering palate with a hint of chocolate and a voluptuous, velvety close. Wine Spectator found ripe, slightly sweet black cherry laced with espresso and toasty oak.
A generous Zin year. The 2019 is open, spicy, and built to pour now from a half bottle. Drink up. Half bottles age faster.
Black cherry, black licorice, black pepper, baking spice, chocolate.
Lush, full mouthfeel, soft velvety tannin, half-bottle format.
Voluptuous, espresso, toasty oak. Decant 15 to 20 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Zinfandel from here and there, then a half bottle
Wittmann's brief at The Prisoner is ripe fruit, managed tannin, and a wine you can open the night you buy it. Saldo keeps that mouthfeel with a Zinfandel core from Dry Creek, Lodi, and Amador. The 2019 in 375ml is the same idea in a smaller format: cherry, licorice, pepper, spice, and a lush close.
This page is the 375ml. Do not read 750ml street talk into the half bottle. The typical retail here is $25 for this format.
Fifteen to 20 minutes of air in a small decant or a large glass is enough. Serve 60 to 64 F.
From a cult blend to a Zinfandel in half bottle
The Prisoner began as Dave Phinney's Napa red blend. Saldo is the house taking leftover great Zin lots and giving them a name.
The Goya etching on the Prisoner label is still the mark. Saldo is the Zin that did not fit that blend and was too good to dump.
Chrissy Wittmann came up through soil labs and Central Coast cellars, then took the Prisoner winemaking brief: collaboration with growers, ripe picks, tannin managed in-house.
The 2019 375ml is that Zin for a two-person table. Six half-bottles is the allocation on this SKU.
A sear for two, or a smoked rib
Lush Zinfandel wants browned beef and a little smoke. A skillet ribeye or a rack of ribs both fit a half bottle.
Two plates. One butter-basted ribeye. One rack of smoked ribs.
Decant 15 to 20 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. A half bottle is two generous glasses.
Butter-Basted Rib Eye Steaks
A skillet ribeye and a 375ml. The half-bottle steak night.
Why it works: Beef fat softens plush tannin. Char pulls black cherry, licorice, and baking spice.
View Recipe for butter-basted rib eye steaks (opens in a new tab)
Smoked Ribs
Smoke, bark, and a slow rib for cherry, licorice, and the 2019's velvety tannin.
Why it works: Fat and smoke cushion Zinfandel while the wine's spice resets the plate.
View Recipe for smoked ribs (opens in a new tab)Put this 375ml Saldo Zinfandel in the cart
Chrissy Wittmann's California Zin in a half bottle. Fifteen dollars against a $25 typical retail.
Put it in the cart. This is the 2019 half bottle for a steak for two, not a 750ml market argument.
