Zepaltas Wines

In 2008 we added another piece to the puzzle in the La Cruz blend. We started working with some extra fruit from a section at the vineyard that had no official paper work on. I tried picking the brains of the fellow that planted the section. Apparently, the clone planted was from some suitcase cuttings from a famous Burgundy vineyard. Which one Richebourg? La Tache? Bonne Mares? I guess I will never know due to the elusive nature of everyone that I have asked about it. Around the winery it is referred to as “?” clone.

The final blend of this wine is comprised of 31% clone 115, 37% clone 114 and the remaining 32% is the “?” clone. On the nose we get deep aromatics: curry, Chinese 5 spice, earth and a touch of candied fruit (almost like a Grenache from the South of France in a strange way.) There is some good grip in the blend this year due to the whole clusters that we used in the ferments this year, and it helps augment the fruit character. I feel that it has added the backbone that has been missing in La Cruz Vineyard in past vintages. This is by far our most elegant, and refined pinot of the 2008s. It is a precise, pretty wine that will be versatile with all sorts of Pinot-friendly dishes.