Santa Catalina Island is but one of central and southern California’s eight coastal channel islands, each of which boasts a colorful and interesting history. The largest of them, Santa Cruz, was home to a thriving vineyard and winery, which was established in the early 1800s. Though the operation was shut down and the vines torn out after Prohibition, we heard about a few wild vines that had survived in the rugged hills of the island’s Central Valley, and went to investigate. The Nature Conservancy allowed us to gather cuttings, and now Santa Cruz Island Zinfandel vines flourish at El Rancho Escondido on Catalina. The result is not only history in a bottle, but a truly unique and distinctive Zinfandel from this very special Channel Island clone.