Tasting in San Francisco Monday Night
Posted Ryan Zepaltas - 18 Dec, 2009
Let's just call it the Zepaltas Wines Holiday Party. Come on down to the Marina District this Monday. We will be posting up at the California Wine Merchant wine bar. Greg and the gang will be featuring a bunch of our wines that night including some of our older wines. Come on down and have some wines and a little holiday cheer. We would love to see you there. Here are the details....
California Wine Merchant
5:00-9:00PM
Monday, December 21
2113 Chestnut St.
San Francisco, California 94123
Parker is Dead.....
Posted Ryan Zepaltas - 13 Dec, 2009Well, with all the talk these days of wine writer's voices becoming less and less important in today's wine world, we are greeted with a new face on the scene. Rapper Sadat X of the legendary rap group Brand Nubian has diversified his portfolio, and has jumped into the wine critic game. Maybe not so informative, but entertaining indeed. Do not watch if you take wine too serious or if you can't handle some good old cussing!
There are many episodes on the old Youtube. Away with 100 point system and on with the fucked-up factor! I especially like descriptors like "cracky" and "10 dolla holla"
Don't Fuck With Chuck!!
Yeah man, I used to skate..let me see that thing.
Posted Ryan Zepaltas - 18 Nov, 2009
This ARTICLE appeared in a Canadian skateboard magazine earlier in the year, but it now has been posted online by the author, Dave Carnie on his food Blog called FOOD ON DRUNK. I urge you to check it out. Dave is one of the smartest and most hilarious writers out there today (that is unless you are uptight and take yourself way too seriously!) I especially recommend reading about his trip to the French Laundry.
Dave is a legend in the skateboard world, and has now migrated into the food world. Dave and his wife Tania are obsessed with all things food and they always have an interesting, hilarious take on the sometimes too nerdy food world. I grew up reading his writing in Big Brother Magazine(it was the naughty skateboard magazine back in the day that eventually spawned the whole MTV Jackass thing.) I recently crossed paths with him via the internet, and through our communications, he decided to write this article about me and my wine together. Thanks for the write-up Dave!
An early look at the 2008s and some pairings with some older wines (part 1)
Posted Ryan Zepaltas - 10 Nov, 2009
We had some guests in from Japan last week, and we got down to some serious tasting of our wines at the winery, and over dinner. We opened a bunch of wines from 2007 and 2008 just to see how they were doing. Since I made all these wines, I will try to refrain from “reviewing” these wines and try to give you a feel for how the wines will age, and when I think they will be at their best, how they paired with the foods….
The Appellation Series 2008:
08 Russian River Pinot Noir
Ok we made this wine as sort of our take on a village wine. We wanted something that would drinking well earlier in its life, and have good value. Right now, the wine needs a little air (1/2 hour to breathe or decanting), but once opened up it sings-loudly. Really great RRV flavors on this wine. Surprisingly more complex than I ever expected. A bit of tannin is holding up the flavors nicely. No need to hold this one if you don’t feel like it.
08 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
This wine is finally putting itself back together after bottling. I feared it to be too simple early on, but that is not the case. Lots of layers and structure If I dare say it-ok I won’t say that it is “Burgundian”- but we were getting flavors of earth, mushroom, & red currants. I am really happy with this wine. We will be releasing this wine in February of 2010
The 2008 Single Vineyards:
08 Suacci Vineyard
It is still in barrel, but I had to poke my thief in to see how things changed since before harvest. I am glad how this extra time in barrel has given some extra layers to this Pinot Noir. It is probably the richest that Suacci has ever been, but the lowest alcohol (13.6%) watch for this bottling in early 2010.
08 La Cruz Vineyard Pinot Noir
A current release off the mailer right now. I think that this is a great wine to put in the cellar. It has layers and layers built in, but it just seems like time is going to be very good for this wine. I think the addition of the extra clone in this wine was the key to this wine. It was tasting better and better as the day went on. Hold this wine at least a year.
2006 Rosella's Vyd. Syrah
I was curious to see how this wine was doing. Definitely getting “Rhoney” Earthy, layered, gamey and nice blackberry fruit. I picked this wine a bit earlier in 2006 and it translated into a wine that is less heavy handed than vintages past. The stem inclusion is showing pretty good and not unbalancing the wine. This wine -as always- needs some decanting. This wine shows best the day after. So if you are going to drink it on a Friday, I would open it Thursday.
2007 Rosella's Vyd. Syrah
A new release so we had to see how it was doing. I really like the fruit character on this wine. It seems like it should fall in line with the rest of the Rosella’s Syrahs. Give it a year, and serve it something braised..meat that is-not tofu! Don't get me wrong I like tofu just not with syrah.
Continued in part 2-the dinner wines and pairings
As The Dust Settles
Posted Ryan Zepaltas - 23 Oct, 2009
Well it is official... the last fruit is in house and 2009 vintage is over.......We just brought in the Rosella's Vineyard Syrah and it is cold soaking away. I have a great feeling about 2008 (winemakers say that every year.) We were given scares by the heat spikes early on, and then it rained like crazy last week. All in all, I feel that the fruit was ripened perfectly and the weather didn't destroy or offset the balance of the the wines. I want to thank all of my crew and interns for really doing a bang up job in the cellar.
I especially want to thank my wife Anna for putting up with me throughout the past 2 months. It has been tough one. We would only see each other for about an hour in the evening before I would fall asleep at the dinner table! Thanks babe for the warm meals and the support! I would be a loser living off fast food and beer if it wasn't for you. I promise that I will clean the garage, get back to the remodel project and most importantly spend lots of time with you now that we are getting back to a more reasonable schedule!
Love,
Ryan