Let's Make Some More Rules: Old Vines

The term "old vines" on a wine label conjures an image of a hillside in Sonoma County that supports thick, gnarled, somewhat

stunted grapevines, usually zinfandel, planted in the 1880s or 1890s or early 1900s by Italian immigrants. The vines are so old that they must be carefully tended, and they manage to bring forth only a handful of grapes in each vi…