Zepaltas Wines

After the great score in the Wine Spectator (95 points!!!) I have never feared the “Sophomore Flop” more in my life. I did not want to put out the Pinot version of Caddyshack II. Fear not: this wine can go toe-to-toe with the 05, and probably kick its ass. The 06 La Cruz is more powerful all around. It has the common flavors of Sonoma Coast: raspberries, strawberries, pomegranates, but with more intense fruit character xfocus.
The careful use of tight-grained French oak gives the wine a slight vanilla and nutty character that goes hand in hand with the fruit profile.

As the wine opens up an earthiness/mushroom layer is revealed. I picked the two clones (114 & 115) about a month part. The early pick of the 115 actually came in riper with a bit less acidity than the late picked 114. It just goes to show that the use of the term “microclimates” within a vineyard is not just marketing “smoke and mirrors" - but in this case was reality