#91 Wine Spectator Top 100 (1990 edition - 1988 vintage)
#78 Wine Spectator Top 100 (1988 edition - 1986 vintage) ~ 1st edition
 
92-Points by Wine Spectator.
Kicks off with spicy, rich, plum, black cherry, herb, toast, anise and cola flavors. This longtime top producer doesn't disappoint with this classy, complex array, couched in ripe, supple tannins. It finishes long and fresh, with a toasty, raspberry edge.
 
A. Rafanelli Winery is a family-owned, Sonoma County wine producer based in the Dry Creek Valley AVA. The Californian estate is renowned for its small selection of red wines produced from three key grape varieties: Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
The flagship of the A. Rafanelli portfolio is the Terrace Select, a varietal Cabernet Sauvignon selected from the best plots from the Terraced Hillside Vineyard. After fermentation, it is barrel-aged in new French oak for 36 months prior to being bottled unfined and unfiltered. 
The winery was founded by Italian Alberto Rafanelli, after he settled in California at the beginning of the 20th Century. The winery was relocated to Dry Creek Valley in the 1950s, where it began cultivating Zinfandel. The first wines under the A. Rafanelli Winery label were released in the 1970s, and today the 34 hectares (85 acres) of farmed vineyards produce approximately 11,000 cases of wine per year.