October 2010
2008 Rosella's Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands Syrah
Posted Ryan Zepaltas - 31 Aug, 2010With Syrah supposedly being such a bad word these days, we are grateful that we are able to sell all of our Syrah without a problem. Hopefully it is because people think that we do a great job with the fruit, but I like to think that it is because Rosella’s Vineyard is such a great site for Syrah. Also, the fact that Gary Franscioni knows what he is doing when it comes to farming syrah.
After the fruit is harvested (night pick under the lights-always) it is transported to the winery in refrigerated trucks. We like to keep it simple in the cellar: cold soak the fruit for 5 days, we foot stomp and hand punch down the fermentors twice a day, warm up the fruit, ferment it (50% whole cluster on this wine) to dryness, press the wine to barrel, age it in barrel for 16 months. We may rack it if the wine needs it, or not at all. Lastly, we bottle it unfiltered and let it sit another 6 months before releasing it to you.
On the nose, scents of blueberry, blackberry and pepper come flying out of the glass. On the palate the wine is vibrant and loaded with flavors of anise, bacon and almost Grenache like flavors. The finish is quite lengthy due to the chalky tannins. This wine should age great as it always seems to do. I recently had the 04,05,06 &07 Rosella’s next to each other in a tasting, and they all were doing great and showing no signs of fatigue. In fact, the older the wine, the better it was showing.
2009 La Cruz Vineyard Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
Posted Ryan Zepaltas - 31 Aug, 2010The La Cruz Vineyard, the property owned by Keller Estate in the Petaluma Gap, has been consistently turning out elegant, densely flavored pinot for us since we started purchasing fruit in 2005. The vines that we source from are all hillside planted, low yielding vines. We can always expect powerful flavors with lots of layers.
We added a new clone to the mix in 2009. We got a couple tons of Pommard clone to go along with the Dijon 115, 114 and the mystery “Suitcase Clone” that we have been working with. What I like about the Pommard clone in general is the dark, earthy flavors it has, and for some reason works really well with stem inclusion during fermentation (about 25%.)
The final blend here is an equal mix of 115, 114, Suitcase Clone and Pommard. The wine was aged for 11 months in 40% new French oak barrels.
On the nose, scents of wet stones, cherry, currant, and on the palate, chalky tannins hold up the wine and give it structure and sets the stage for flavors of raspberry, strawberry and mineral. This wine should be good for both early drinking (with food) and cellaring for 3-5 years
2009 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
Posted Ryan Zepaltas - 31 Aug, 2010The 2008 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir has been the star of the 2008 wines. It is the right price for the times, but don’t think that we source out so-so vineyards to make a cheaper wine. We have searched really passionately farmed, high quality vineyards and blend them to make a concentrated, yet elegant wine that reflects what the Russian River Valley is all about. It is all about finding the right people to work with.
Fast-forward to 2009-a better vintage with the same vineyards blended in. The wine is based barrels from the Nunes Vineyard located on Old Redwood Highway in North Santa Rosa. In our last tasting trial, we blended in a little W.E.Bottoms and a little Suacci Vineyard to make it complete.
On the nose, scents of vibrant black cherry, blackberry and underbrush are shown. On the palate, the finish is plush with a grip of fine tannin with flavors of raspberry and tobacco. The wine is held up by an acid backbone that gives the wine freshness and length. This is the perfect introduction to Zepaltas Wines. This is a dense, powerful and just plain delicious wine at a great price.
