Vezer Family Vineyard house spotlight
Vezer Family Vineyard Meet the Winemaker, a short house film from the Suisun Valley estate behind this Baby Maker blend.
Vezer Family Vineyard 'Baby Maker' Red Wine Blend, Ca
Daniel Benton's Suisun Valley Petite Sirah and Zinfandel, black cherry and chocolate at 15.1 percent, a Baby Maker you can open at twenty-nine dollars.
Baby Maker is 58 percent Petite Sirah and 42 percent Zinfandel from Vezer's Suisun Valley ranch: black cherry, plum, and chocolate in a 15.1% bottle, now $29.
A named Suisun blend with real alcohol and a family ranch behind it
Vezer farms in Suisun Valley, just east of Napa. Baby Maker is their 58 percent Petite Sirah and 42 percent Zinfandel blend, bottled at 15.1% alcohol because that is how the fruit comes in. The house calls it a robust wine for hearty dishes. Daniel Benton, known for Croze, now leads the cellar. This is not a Napa leftover. It is Suisun Petite Sirah with Zinfandel sweetness, priced so you can actually pull the cork.
The house
The Vezer family farms Suisun Valley, a warm pocket east of Napa with tasting rooms at Mankas Corner and on the vineyard.
The wine
58% Petite Sirah, 42% Zinfandel. 15.1% ABV. Black cherry, plum, chocolate. Built for beef and a wide glass.
The cellar
Daniel Benton, known for Croze, now makes the Vezer reds. The brief is intensity, not a thin picnic blend.
The drinker
Serve 60 to 64 F. No long decant. Brisket, ribs, or a simple steak.
Black fruit, chocolate, then a warm spice close
The house note is black cherry, plum, and chocolate in a robust frame. Independent tasting of the blend found raspberry and blackberry on the nose, then spearmint, milk chocolate, cardamom, overripe boysenberry, and nutmeg. 15.1% alcohol is not a joke. It is the weight of Suisun Petite Sirah.
Baby Maker is bottled without a vintage so Vezer can keep the Petite Sirah and Zinfandel mix in one consistent, high-alcohol house style. Drink it now. It is not a cellar project.
Black cherry, plum, blackberry, raspberry, chocolate, spearmint, cardamom, nutmeg.
Full, 15.1% ABV, Petite Sirah tannin, Zinfandel sweetness in the middle.
Warm spice, chocolate. Serve 60 to 64 F. No long decant.
Petite Sirah for the frame, Zinfandel for the middle
Vezer bottles Baby Maker as 58 percent Petite Sirah and 42 percent Zinfandel. Petite Sirah supplies color, tannin, and the 15.1% alcohol. Zinfandel fills the middle with plum and chocolate. Daniel Benton, who also makes Croze, now runs this cellar. The point is a robust Suisun red you can pour with beef, not a delicate Napa costume.
Suisun sits east of Napa, warmer, with a family ranch and two tasting rooms. The blend is the house's playful serious red.
Serve 60 to 64 F in a wide glass. Brisket or ribs. Finish the bottle at the table.
A family ranch just east of Napa
Vezer Family Vineyard is a Suisun Valley house with tasting rooms that still feel like a farm, not a resort.
The family farms Suisun Valley, about 18 miles east of downtown Napa, with a Victorian tasting room on the vineyard and a second at Mankas Corner.
Baby Maker is the playful label: Petite Sirah and Zinfandel, high alcohol, a name that does the marketing so the glass can do the work.
Daniel Benton now leads the winemaking. The ranch is still Vezer's.
Smoke, fat, and a wide glass
Petite Sirah tannin wants collagen. Zinfandel sweetness wants a glaze. Brisket and a butter-basted steak both work.
Two plates. One butter-basted steak. One red-wine braised short rib. Both can take 15.1% Petite Sirah.
Serve 60 to 64 F. No long decant. A wide glass keeps chocolate and plum in front of the alcohol.
Pan-Seared Butter-Basted Steak
A thick steak, butter, and a hard crust. Baby Maker at the weeknight table.
Why it works: Fat meets 15.1% tannin. Char pulls black cherry and chocolate forward.
View Recipe for pan-seared butter-basted steak (opens in a new tab)
Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs
A slow braise for Petite Sirah grip and Zinfandel sweetness.
Why it works: Collagen softens the tannin. Reduction echoes plum, chocolate, and spice.
View Recipe for red wine braised short ribs (opens in a new tab)Put Baby Maker in the cart
Daniel Benton, Suisun Petite Sirah and Zinfandel, 15.1%. Twenty-nine dollars.
Put it in the cart. This is the house blend for a table that wants fruit and heat, not a Napa speech.
