A lounge for private tastings is located adjacent to the reception downstairs.Īnd the Chardonnay grapevine hanging against the wall near the reception was originally planted in 1982 in their Carneros property – uprooted in its entirety in 2019, this vine clearly shows the great length of mature grapevine roots. One of the highlights of the hospitality center is the Vineyard View Room & Deck – a contemporary indoor space for seating tastings along with an outdoor wrap around deck offering visitors gorgeous panoramic vistas overlooking the Napa Valley. Tastings are either by walk-in or reservation. The hospitality center underwent a major renovation in 2018/2019 – with a focus being on more intimate sit down tastings rather than seeing visitors at a wine bar (like their old setup). Once a year the property is open for a few hours for their annual Napa Valley Summer Wine Celebration, a food and wine charity event benefiting the Boys & Girls Clubs of Napa Valley’s Teen Center. While not open to the public, their Carneros property features a modern “barn” housing various farming equipment and a historic house dating from 1897 (great views overlooking the gentle rolling Carneros vineyards from both the house and the barn). Along with their own vineyards, ZD Wines only works with growers who are certified organic farmers. The deLeuzes have owned the Carneros property since 1996, however they were sourcing fruit for a Chardonnay from Carneros 9 years prior to acquiring their own vineyard. Their 34-acre Carneros property is planted to 23 acres of Chardonnay and 6 acres of Pinot Noir. Their Rutherford estate is planted to about 3.2 acres of three clones of Cabernet Sauvignon (7, 15 and 337) the grapes from these vines form the majority of their ZD Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Their grapes are sourced from numerous locations within the Napa Valley including their two estate properties, the vineyard surrounding the winery and hospitality center in Rutherford and also on the Napa side of Carneros. The family moved their winery operations to Rutherford in the Napa Valley in 1979/1980. They were the first winery to put Carneros on a wine label, beginning with their inaugural vintage of Pinot Noir in 1969. In these early days both deLeuze and Zepponi had full time jobs and were only able to spend time making wine on the weekends and other days off. They rented farm buildings on the Sonoma side of Carneros and made their first 10 vintages here. ZD received their first application for bond and label approval in Sonoma County not far from the town of Sonoma (not many Napa County wineries can say this). Norm deLeuze was working as an aeronautical engineer designing rockets at AeroJet-General in Sacramento (now AeroJet Rocketdyne) when he began making wine in 1969. Z and D, are the initials of the co-founders last names but perhaps more meaningful is the reference to the term zero defects – used in engineering – and meaning without flaws. Tragically he died in 1985 from a car accident in Lodi, Norm died in 2007 and Rosa Lee (who we met briefly, at their Carneros property died in 2018). Gino, owned Winery Systems a consulting and winery equipment provider – and was also a consultant for several wineries and worked at Domaine Chandon where he developed and introduced a custom made gyropalette (to automate the riddling of the sparkling wines). The winery is still family owned and operated with co-founder Norm deLeuze and his wife Rosa Lee’s children and grandchildren now involved. ZD Wines was founded in 1969 as Zepponi and deLeuze Winery, ZD Wines by two engineers, Norman deLeuze and Gino Zepponi.
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