Today we share the outstanding wines of Bruce Prothro and his family. Bruce and his wife, Ronda became interested in wine at the start of their relationship. Their first date was wine tasting in Napa and one year later they were married. In 1991, Bruce and Ronda began making their own wine by purchasing Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay grapes from a vineyard in the Russian River Valley that supplied grapes to DeLoach Winery. With no formal training, they borrowed and rented equipment to crush, ferment, and press almost two tons of grapes, yielding nearly 120 gallons of barrel-aged wine. Even though they made a few mistakes that first year, the wine was a hit among their friends and family and became a staple at their parties and get togethers.
Over the next seven years they made wine out of their garage. Along the way they had help from several heavyweight figures in California wine including Burt Williams at Williams Selyem, Dexter and Val Ahlgren at Ahlgren Vineyards, Ken Burnap at Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyards, Kent Rosenbloom and Jeff Cohn at Rosenbloom Cellars, and the crew at David Bruce Winery.
Their first vintage was 2014. I love the new wines and check out an outstanding Cabernet Franc, their 2021 Prothro ‘Stagecoach Vineyard’ (OB, 93) which is dense and chewy from this outstanding high-elevation location. Learn more about this great Napa winery at https://prothrofamilywines.com/ Here are the beautiful new wines by Prothro Family Wines.
2023 Prothro ‘Wildwood Vineyards’ Sauvignon Blanc- The bright 2023 Prothro ‘Wildwood Vineyards’ Sauvignon Blanc comes from this site in the Sonoma Valley. It is soft and approachable with good verve. Gooseberry and grassy flavors combine with Japanese pear and unripe peach on the palate. Drink 2024-2029- 91
2021 Prothro ‘Legacy Edition’ Zinfandel- Coming from Moon Mountain, this 2021 Zinfandel shows off lighter red fruit flavors with orange peel and shades of cranberry on the palate. This might have been picked on the early side. Enjoy now. Drink 2024-2028- 88
2021 Prothro ‘Signature Release’ Cabernet Sauvignon- The 2021 Prothro ‘Signature Release’ offers plenty of dense cassis, tar and tobacco flavors on the palate, alongside dusty tannins. Medium to full-bodied, enjoy over the next eight to ten years. Drink 2024-2032- 91
2021 Prothro ‘Stagecoach Vineyard’ Cabernet Franc- Coming from this outstanding mountainous site, the 2021 Prothro ‘Stagecoach Vineyard’ Cabernet Franc delivers heady blueberry compote flavors alongside black licorice, dark chocolate shavings and graphite. Full-bodied and fully delicious, enjoy this outstanding bottling now and over the next ten to fifteen years. Drink 2024-2036- 93
2021 Prothro ‘Cuvee No. 7’ Red Wine- In it is 7th edition of this Merlot-dominant wine, it comes off very inky in the glass. Chocolate and roasted date flavors mingle well with espresso bean and loamy soils on the palate. Seriously good now, enjoy over the next ten plus years to come. Drink 2024-2036- 92
2021 Prothro ‘Limited Release Howell Mountain’ Cabernet Sauvignon- The outstanding 2021 Prothro ‘Limited Release Howell Mountain’ Cabernet Sauvignon offers dark currants, huckleberry compote and shades of chocolate. Very smooth throughout the drinking experience, showing good weight and underlying tension, this beautiful wine has a long way to go in the cellar. Drink 2024-2040- 94