8383 Silverado Trail
Napa, CA 94558
800-487-7757
http://www.zdwines.com/
"Zero Defects"
I would have to agree, ZD wines have been California Certified Organic since 1999.
The chickens are "Pest Control" and "Fertilizer's"
ZD started out making Pinot Noir, and still does since 1969. The 2008 is exceptional with its medium ruby color and flavors of black cherry. Pinot Noir is my favorite summertime red wine. With a slight chill, it can be very refreshing, and is a great first step into red wine if you happen to be a beginner to drinking wine.
You probably know about the ZD Chardonnay. Using 0% Malolactic doesn't take away any of the creamy full bodied flavor. It is barrel aged in American oak for 10 months and cold barrel fermented extending the yeast contact. In my opinion yeast contact makes for extra full flavor. Personally I am a fan of Malolactic which is what give certain Chardonnays that popcorn butter flavor, yum. So I was pleasantly surprised by the 2008 40th Anniversary Chardonnay having so much flavor and body.
Being a huge fan of red wine, I was most excited about the Cabernet. 2007 Cabernet, Napa Valley to be exact. I had tried this wine at an event and fell in love! I had no idea at the time that ZD made anything other than Chardonnay...silly me. This Cabernet has everything I love in a red wine. It is powerful, dark, dense and not in the same way your significant other might be a considered dense. This wine is very complex and beautiful! Sounds like an Internet dating profile...And yes I would date this wine! Of course if you are looking for a date, I mean wine that is both mature complex and still full of the energy of a fruit forward young wine, try Abacus. Named after the ancient counting device. The final blend of the first bottling in 1999 includes vintages from 1992 -1998 of the reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. 15% of this wine was bottled and the other 85% was returned to a barrel where it waited to be blended again with the next round of young grapes. So the Abacus is always evolving with added vintages and ever growning complexity. Today this wine is tended to by CEO Robert deLeuze and Winemaker Chris Pisani.
If you happen to be in the Napa Valley and are planning your wine adventures make sure to give Curtis Hecker, the tasting room manager at ZD a call to schedule a Cellar tour. Curtis loves his job and you can tell by the way he talks about the wine and the process it goes through before becoming available for you to buy. Of course I am not sure how anyone could NOT enjoy a job with such a great view and where drinking wine is required...
I have to say drinking out of the barrel is the only way to go! Of course this will require a much larger wine fridge...or maybe I just need a cave. Thank you Curtis for all your help!
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