Zepaltas Wines

This is our second vintage working with the Springer Vineyard in Lake County, just north of Sonoma County. The Lake County appellation is in a mountainous region and sits at 1,400 ft. above sea level. The air is dry, the days are warm and the nights are cool. Vineyard is just over 20 years old and is producing amazing, organically farmed fruit.
This vineyard delivers Sauvignon Blanc that is energetic, crisp, with stone fruit and tropical flavors. In 2010 we tried to make a wine that was a bit lower in alcohol that the 2009, but still loaded with flavor. After a long, extremely cool summer the vineyard finally became ready to harvest in late September. We brought in 6 tons of fruit and whole cluster pressed the juice out from the skins. We fermented and aged the wine in stainless steel (80%) and neutral oak barrels (20%). We left the wine on its lees and stirred during fermentation to help with keeping the wine safe from oxygen, and to enhance flavors.
After 4 months of aging we filtered the wine and bottled it. This wine is meant to be a summertime food wine that is complex, of great value and a pleasure to drink amongst friends. We recommend serving this Sauvignon Blanc with shellfish, tempura, rich cheeses and oysters.