On Wednesday, May 13, 2026, we had the opportunity to interview Joel Peterson again. Joel is the winemaker and owner of Once & Future Wines. In the interview, we covered one regional 2024 “Old Vine” Zinfandel, five 2024 Single-Vineyard Zinfandels, and, finally, a retrospective 2016-vintage Petite Sirah. We last interviewed Joel in June of 2025. In that interview, we covered the previous vintage of many of these wines. In the current interview, Joel shared some updates since our last chat. Below you can also read the summary of our reviews of all these new-release Zins!
Before we get to the wines, I thought I would share some tidbits that Joel shared in the interview.
- Joel has continued doing a lot of work with his son Morgan at Bedrock Vineyard.
- Bedrock Vineyard is certified both Organic and recently certified Regenerative. (Only 1 of about 20 in the world)
- What are the vineyard sources for the “Old Vine” Zin?
- Joel’s blend of non-single vineyard selected barrels.
- 1 barrel of Bedrock and 1 barrel of Teldeschi.
- What is the status with the Ravenswood consulting project?
- Joel is no longer helping with the project.
- Tell us about the 2024 Vintage?
- Difficult Vintage – Joel only made 6 wines.
- Early heat spikes during veraison.
- Wines needed punch downs.
- Good flavors and expressive.
- Earlier pick than usual.
- These three single vineyards that Joel uses have vines over 100 years old.
- Bedrock Vineyard
- Old Hill Ranch
- Teldeschi Vineyard Frank’s Block
- Joel shared the story of Vogensen Vineyard.
- Joe Vogensen sold Joel the grapes that was the first wine that Joel ever made.
- Joe sold the vineyard to Harry Wheller in 1981.
- Harry told Joel he was not going to sell the vineyard.
- In 1982 Harry sold the vineyard to Lou Preston.
- Lou tore out the Zin and planted Grenache and Syrah.
- Somehow Morgan discovered they left 1/2 an acre of Zin.
- Joel jumped at the chance to get the grapes.
- For the last 3 years Joel has been able to make a barrel and a ½ from this vineyard.
- This wine is a back to his roots wine for Joel.
- The Belloni Vineyard has Mataro and Alicante Bouschet in the mixed blacks.
- The Alicante pushed the blueberry flavors!
- Joel first started working with “Old Hill Ranch” in 1981.
- It is now organically farmed.
- There are 30 different grape varieties in this vineyard.
- Frank’s Block in the Teldeschi Vineyard is the 1904 block.
- The Dry Creek Valley has a reddish soil (It is high in iron)
- The Carignan and Alicante are slow to ripen.
- All the grapes are picked together, so Joel has to call the pick at the right time.
- All of Joel’s wines are made the same way. Same techniques. Same open top fermenter.
- The most interesting wines that Joel has experienced are aged Petite Sirah’s.
- Our experience covering the 2016 “Palisades Vineyard” Petite Sirah revealed the magic Joel was expressed to us!
Below is a summary of the wine offerings from Once & Future that we covered with Joel. The links below are to our full reviews. If you are interested in ordering and trying these wines, you will find some of these wines via your favorite fine wine shop or on top quality wines lists. You can also find a few online. Your best bet is to call (855) 566-3946 or e-mail the winery for information. At info@onceandfuturewine.com.
1) Once & Future 2024 Zinfandel “Old Vine” (Sonoma County) $25 (KWGTP 92.5)
2) Once & Future 2024 Zinfandel “Bedrock Vineyard” (Sonoma Valley) $42 (KWGTP 94)
3) Once & Future 2024 Zinfandel “Belloni Vineyard” (RRV) $42 (KWGTP 94)
4) Once & Future 2024 Zinfandel “Old Hill Ranch” (Sonoma Valley) $48 (KWGTP 94.5)
5) Once & Future 2024 Zinfandel “Teldeschi Vineyard Frank’s Block” (DCV) $42 (KWGTP 94.5)
6) Once & Future 2024 Zinfandel “Vogensen Vineyard” (DCV) $42 (KWGTP 91.5)
7) Once & Future 2016 Petite Sirah “Palisades Vineyard” (Calistoga) $55 (KWGTP 95)
You can find reviews of past and future Once and Future wines that we cover on the Once and Future KWG winery page on our website. We hope you enjoy these terrific wines as much as we did. Cheers! – Ken