Labels

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Zepaltas Winery - do not miss these







We are proud to introduce Zepaltas wines to Missouri!
Ryan Zepaltas, has been the assistant winemaker at St. Louis favorite Siduri for the past 16 years, and before that spent time at Villa Maria in New Zealand, and La Crema! 
The production is so small on these wines that outside of California, you only find them in New York and now The Wine and Cheese Place in St. Louis!

Kole, our wine buyer at our Rock Hill Location,  met Ryan Zepaltas in Oregon while working with Siduri, leading up to The Willamette Valley Pinot Noir Auction. While there,  Kole was treated to a fabulous dinner at David Adelsheim of Adelsheim Vineyards house, featuring a host of famous Pinot producers. Basically, everyone brought miscellaneous bottles of Pinot Noir to share, Ryan brought Siduri, but there was one random unmarked bottle of Chardonnay on the table. Everyone unanimously agreed this was the best bottle of the night. Turns out this was Zepaltas Chardonnay, left in an unlabeled bottle, so that he could get unbiased reviews. The next day Kole found Ryan at the auction and said, How do we get your wines back to St. Louis?  After months of paperwork - it is finally here.


We are introducing them at stunning prices - check out the wines.  They are in stock now.
We were able to get 14 cases of each.   For some of the wines, that is 10% of the total production!  These are small production


2014 Zepaltas Cabernet Franc Pickberry...$22.99
Winery Price $29, 
(nobody else has this wine on Wine-Searcher)
Only 145 cases produced
Ravenswood Winery made big scoring Bordeaux Blends from the famous Pickberry Vineyard.
"Now that we were comfortable with the slow ripening nature of Cab Franc, we knew that all we needed was patience and good weather. We lucked out and the fruit ripened to exactly the point where we wanted it.   On the nose we get lavender, strawberry, anise and black pepper. On the palate flavors of blueberry, raspberry and of course the hallmark of Cabernet Franc, bell pepper. The 2014 is slightly more fruit driven than the 2013. It is bright and plush up front and finishes with medium grit tannins. This wine will need a year of cellaring to get to its sweet spot, so decanting will be necessary for early drinking. " - Winery
Aged 14 months in 17% new French Oak 

2013 Zepaltas Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast...$24.99
Winery pice $32 (nobody else has this wine on Wine-Searcher)
235 cases produced
The Sonoma Coast bottling is the more elegant sibling to our deeper Russian River Valley. It requires longer aging in barrels because of its higher acidity. The extra time in barrel helps soften the palate on the wine. A blend of barrels from five vineyards: Suacci, La Cruz, W.E. Bottoms, Devoto and Marshall Ranch. Each site contributes something different to make this multi-layered, complex wine. On the nose we get dried herbs, flowers, baking spices & raspberries. This wine has vibrant energetic palate, light tannins, and flavors of the Sonoma Coast (pomegranate, cherry, and dried herbs.)
Aged in 30% New French oak // 14 months in barrel

2013 Zepaltas Charles Heintz Vineyard Chardonnay...$35.99 
Lowest price on Wine searcher $53
only 72 cases Produced
Ryan Zepaltas coaxes complex aromas and flavors of baked Golden Delicious apple and anise around a well-constructed foundation of integrated oak, 33% of it new French. Cloudy in appearance, the wine sings in anise and tangy tangerine.
Rated 94/100 The Wine Enthusiast


2013 Zepaltas Suacci Vineyard Pinot Noir...$35.99 
Lowest price on Wine searcher - $47.94
only 147 cases produced
An ethereally lithe and elegant wine, the aromatic profile and exuberance on the palate suggest savory and spicy specks of pomegranate, cranberry and even rhubarb. It's fresh, structured and well-integrated, with a bite of bark and clove on the rounded finish.
Rated 94/100 The Wine Enthusiast

No comments: