INSIDER DEAL! Peterson Winery Tollini Vineyard Reds – Honestly Delicious

These two single vineyard, Bulk Buy rated, dry-farmed, naturally made beauties are XX% off (and just $XX.XX a bottle)! Peterson Winery is back with the 2020 Tollini Vineyard Barbera and the Perfect 10 2019 Tollini Vineyard Zero Manipulation Red Blend. The latter has one of the highest Overall Ratings we’ve ever offered in an Insider Deal.

It’s a good day! Why? Because one of our most popular Insider Deals is back and it has not just one but two Bulk Buy rated wines! (We’re not kidding when we say this is one of our most popular deals – the last time we offered them they sold out in less than 8 hours.) And what wines they are…

Both wines come from the dry-farmed Tollini Vineyard in Redwood Valley, Mendocino and are made in a way that lets the true goodness of the grapes shine through — unfined, unfiltered and with no additives (meaning they are also vegan). Here’s how the winery describes the Zero Manipulation blend (although this also applies to the rest of their wines as well):

Zero Manipulation is a combination of intention as well as practice. Each year is slightly different, and our goal is to express that variation (while still making a wine that tastes good), and not having a preconceived notion of the wine being exactly the same each year. We don’t add enzymes, tannins, acid, etc., and don’t fine or filter these wines (or treat with velcorin, or lysozyme, or gum arabic, or or or…). SO2 is used after fermentation and at bottling though with switching to screw caps and lower oxygen pickup, we can get away with less.

The less you do in the course of a wine’s tenure in the cellar, the more of the grape’s, vineyard’s, and vintage’s essence you’ll have to bottle. Every time you do something to a wine, you take out a little of what you started with.

Even better than that, these wines taste amazing — both on their own and with a wide variety of food. Honestly, they’re the type of wines that are so rich and flavorful that they make you wonder what’s been wrong with all the other wine you’ve been tasting.

Both wines are aged a very long time in neutral oak barrels (22 months) and are very low production. Only 475 cases were made of the Zero Manipulation Red (a blend of 79% old vine Carignane, 11% Petite Sirah and 10% Syrah) and just 220 cases of the Barbera.

Normally retailing for very reasonable $24, today’s deal gets you 3 bottles of the 2019 Zero Manipulation Red Blend plus 3 bottles of the 2020 Barbera at a fraction of that price.

As we noted above both wines are Bulk Buy rated (keep reading below for our full reviews) and we gave the Zero Manipulation a Taste Rating of 10 (94+ points) and one of the highest Overall Ratings we’ve ever offered in an Insider Deal!

Today’s Insider Deal gets you these 6 bottles for just $XX.XX ($XX.XX/bottle), a discount of XX% saving you over $XX a bottle!

This 6-pack deal is available to ship to the following states: AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OR, RI, SC, TX, VT, WA, WI, WV and WY. (These states are dependent on the individual licenses of the offering winery and are not representative of all our deals. Every deal can have different, sometimes more, sometimes less, states available.)

Shipping is a flat $6.99 per order, no matter how many 6-packs you buy. Packages ship in cardboard (no styrofoam). Read on for our full review.

Clicking on the Add To Cart button above will take you to our checkout at shop.reversewinesnob.com. Ends Sunday 2/25/2024 at midnight (PT).

First up let’s take a look at the 2019 Peterson Winery Tollini Vineyard Zero Manipulation Red, a blend of 79% old vine Carignane, 11% Petite Sirah and 10% Syrah aged 22 months in neutral oak barrels.

From the winery:

Our Zero Manipulation is blended using 100% Tollini Vineyard fruit, and is the first in our line of wines honoring this great vineyard and farmer/friend to the north. We’ve produced Zero every year since 2000 using old vine Carignane as the dominant varietal, and in 2019 it makes up 79% of the blend. From this core of spicy, zippy red fruit flavors, we’ve added layers of depth, complexity and balance with Petite Sirah and Syrah. Our goal in the blend is to create a wine that is a true bistro wine—tasty, food friendly, full of soul and almost refreshing, without ever becoming heavy. As our original t-shirt proclaimed, this wine is always “easy to use and cheap to operate.”

The traditional head trained, dry farmed Carignane blocks were planted by Alvin Tollini’s father and grandfather. The Syrah and Petite Sirah were planted by Alvin with the same time-honored techniques and sustainable approach. All sit on southwest facing benches in the Redwood Valley.

Its name belies the sophistication of this delicious Rhône blend. The nose offers a medley of dark fruit and berries laced with traces of earthy minerality and subtle oak notes. The light entry quickly fills the palate with layers of rich, dark, juicy flavors — black raspberry, mulberry, plum and cherry with a sprinkling of cocoa powder. Hints of dried strawberry and eucalyptus make a brief appearance toward the long finish, adding interest and depth.

Enjoy a bottle with an artisan cheese platter, chicken street tacos, or pulled pork sliders with your favorite barbecue sauce and a side of slaw.

100% Tollini Vineyard
Appellation: Redwood Valley, Mendocino County
pH: 3.55
TA: 0.64g/100ml
Barrel Aging: 22 months
Cooperage: 100% neutral oak barrels
Bottling Date: July 21, 2021 (unfined & unfiltered)
Closure Type: Screwcap – Janson Capsule – Saranex liner
Release Date: September 2023

Produced and Bottled by Peterson Winery
15.2% Alcohol

The 2019 Peterson Winery Tollini Vineyard Zero Manipulation Red Blend begins with a really enticing, succulent, harmonious aroma of black cherry and blackberry with plenty of spice, cola, vanilla and even a touch of a meaty note. This one literally sucks you right into the glass and once there it’s hard to get your nose out of it!

Taking a sip reveals quite a lovely, flavorful blend full of deep, savory black cherry, black raspberry and blackberry. It’s medium-bodied, wonderfully balanced, smooth, spicy and easy to drink. It’s rather elegant really, but still quite quaffable which is not an easy feat to achieve. It also has a bit more tannic grip than previous vintages which I love. A tad on the young side still, it gets better and better as it has more air.

The amount of old vine Carignane is up to 79% in this vintage (it’s been as low as 58% in the past) and it takes the wine up a notch in our opinion. It’s so rich and full of flavor that it makes you wonder what’s wrong with a lot of the other wines you’ve been tasting at this price point!

It ends dry, grippy, very long and lively with a plenty of spice under the lasting juicy fruit. I love it and it was even a bit better on day 2. And while it’s drinking absolutely wonderfully now, I think it will get even better with a couple more years of bottle age.

Next let’s take a look at the 2020 Peterson Winery Tollini Vineyard Barbera, a 100% Barbera aged 22 months in neutral oak barrels.

From the winery:

Over the last 20-plus years working with Alvin Tollini, I’ve come to respect his abilities as a grower and the suitability of his properties for producing intense, yet balanced red wines. When Alvin mentioned to me that he had a field on “Granddad’s Ranch” that he was ready to plant, I immediately thought of Barbera. I believed the site’s gravelly, well-drained red clay soil could produce a worthy successor to our Norton Ranch Barbera.

The 2020 is our eleventh vintage from this block. As a 100% varietal from Tollini Vineyard, it truly showcases what the grape is capable of when grown in the right location. This wine hits the high notes, with power and depth behind it, and a purity and clarity one would expect from this ancient varietal.

A deep, rich berry essence fills the nose while traces of fine herbs, toasty oak and fresh ground black pepper add dimension to the tempting aromas. The round entry quickly reveals an array of red fruit—bright cherry, pomegranate and a hint of huckleberry. Dark, ripe Bing cherry flavors appear on the edges of the palate, integrating into the lengthy finish. With a slightly chewy texture, this Barbera walks the line between robust and accessible with lovely forward fruit.

The perfect wine to grab to serve with red wine-braised pork stew, or linguine ala puttanesca.

100% Tollini Vineyard
Appellation: Redwood Valley, Mendocino
Harvest Date: September 22, 2020
pH: 3.28
TA: 0.77g/100mL
Barrel Aging: 22 months
Cooperage: 100% neutral oak barrels
Bottling Date: June 15, 2022 (unfined & unfiltered)
Closure Type: Screwcap – Janson Caps – Saranex liner
Release Date: December 2023

Produced and Bottled by Peterson Winery
14.3% Alcohol

The 2020 Peterson Winery Tollini Vineyard Barbera begins with just a lovely aroma of ripe dark berry fruits mixed with a little spice, some brambly earthiness, vanilla, toasty oak, black pepper, licorice and more. It’s really enticing, and after a few sniffs you’ll find yourself quite excited to take a sip of this one.

And when you do…whoah! If you’ve been drinking predominantly grocery store wines this Barbera is almost a bit startling. Full of ripe, juicy and tart dark berry fruit with a bit of wonderful earthiness and well-integrated spice notes to offset it, this is delicious. Add in good acidity and a smooth mouthfeel and this is a wonderfully flavorful wine with incredible depth.

It ends dry with more lingering sweet tart fruit on the very long, slightly grippy finish. It was just as good on day 2. We tend to think of Barbera as a pizza wine but this is much heartier than that and will stand up to lots of different foods. This is on par with our very popular Amador Barbera Insider Deals from Scott Harvey and Andis Wines.

Just like the Zero Manipulation, this wine is drinking wonderfully right now but it’s also still a bit young so it will develop even more thanks in part I’m sure to the incredibly long time it spent in oak. And again, it’s crazy to get a wine of this quality for just $13.33 a bottle!

Here’s what people are saying about our Insider Deals:

“I have been buying your Insider Deals for about 3 years now and we have enjoyed every one of them. They are wines that we never would have found on our own… ”

“the wine is, in a single word, superb! as have been all other wines offered and purchased since I first learnt about you…”

“love them all so far…Glad we ran across you. Too bad we can not order them all. ”

“Also your prices are pretty amazing. ”

“Hey Jon! You do great work. I’ve bought a bunch of the Insider Deals and probably 80% of the wine I drink comes from them. Great values! ”

“Jon, this is a wonderful wine all around. You have become our go-to person for wonderful wines and wine values. Please keep up the excellent job that you’re doing! Regards, a very satisfied customer. ”

“I opened up our first bottle last weekend and was blown away. ”

“Wow!! Just got my shipment. It is absolutely tremendous. ”

“Hi Jon, Best thing I ever did is buy wine thru you…not been disappointed with any of them! Thank you SO MUCH!”

“Would you happen to be offering this one again anytime soon? I regret not buying more. This was exceptional!”

“I am seriously considering having the Insider Deals as my primary go-to. Why did I not do this sooner? Thank you”

“The only thing I have ever been disappointed in with an Insider Deal is that I didn’t purchase more.”

“I love this wine I bought from you!!!! Thanks for doing what do do!!!”

“This an absolutely amazing wine, Jon…You’ve outdone yourself!”

“Thanks Jon. We already drank all 6 of the first order so we were ecstatic to see you offering it again. My wife and I both love it.”

“You are a man after my own heart. I have always looked for the best and least expensive wine and you just made it easier. Cheers!”

“Hi Jon, well, I did something people have warned about – bought 6 bottles and should have bought 12!”

“Have had nothing but great bottles since I started ordering your recommendations. Thanks so much! ”

“We’ve gotten in on three of the deals and have been VERY happy with the value. I originally was going to do a wine club thing but the insider deal appeals to me much more.”

“The shipping on the Insider Deals is another great part of the deal. We recently paid $27 to a winery in California to ship 6 bottles (same packaging as the insider deals)….yikes!”

“Just got my 6 bottles and having my first glass. WHY, WHY didn’t I buy a case??!!”

“I really missed the boat by only getting four bottles of this offer last month. Should have bought least at a case.”

“My wife and I have really enjoyed getting to know new wines (and better than we used to buy!)​ Thanks for what you do and providing this service!​”

“Jon – you have to stop offering all of these amazing deals. My self discipline is fading fast!!”

“I recently took advantage of your offer. So glad I did, and now sorry I did not buy more (like all those quotes on your website!)”

“The wine is outstanding. I am so glad I bought a case.”

“ I only drink Reverse Wine Snob wine, it actually doesn’t make sense to buy from a store. You don’t get anything interesting, unique, and full of value otherwise.”

“Jon, I should have bought more! Delicious!!”

“I am a Certified Specialist of Wine. I love your deals. You pick great wines!! Kudos to you for getting us great deals!”

“Wish I would have ordered more!! It was great. Looking back, I wish I didn’t open it at our annual pool party. It’s gone. **Sob**”

“Hi Jon, just had to let you know that I love this wine!!!! Thanks for doing what you do.”

“I have purchased many times over the last several months and loved the wines!”

“Seriously amazing deal!!! I love a bold red, and Reverse Wine Snob delivered!!! Perfect for a rainy night!!”

“AMAZING!! Damn, I should have bought a CASE!!”

“WOW. Just… wow. Absolutely delicious. If I knew it was going to be this good, I would have bought a case… or two. This was dead-center in the sweet spot of what I like. Thank you!!”

“I have loved all my RWS deals, can’t wait to get this one.”

“I know that you don’t need to have ‘customers’ email you every time they like a wine that you have suggested/rated, and I have enjoyed many of your recommendations. But this Tannat was spectacular! Wow! That was amazing!”

“I finally opened a bottle of this and it did not disappoint. Delicious!!!”

“Thanks for a great service! We’ve been loving your emails and wine deals!”

“This insider deal is a great wine!!! So glad I got it!!”

“My Insider Deal arrived just in time for my celebration tonight and it’s absolutely delicious! Cheers!”

“Wish I had doubled my order!”

“I’ve gotten quite a few of these and loved them all — keep them coming!”

“Wow – this wine is amazing!!! Glad I have two more bottles of it!!”

“Bought a case wish I had purchased 2-3 cases. Fantastic buy for the price.”

“This Insider Deal was the best ever. This wine is amazing!!! Strongly recommend.”

Get the Peterson Tollini Vineyard Reds 6-Pack before it sells out again! This deal ends Sunday 2/25 at midnight Pacific if it lasts that long.

If you have more questions or any trouble ordering, please check out our FAQ! As of 9/3/2023 we have moved to our new, improved checkout system. Previous accounts have NOT been transferred, but no account is necessary to save your info for future orders or to checkout. GPay and Apple Pay are also now enabled.

Cheers,
Jon