ZD Wines, home of Abacus (among other things)

One of my favorite wines on the planet is ZDs Abacus so on my recent trip to Napa, I decided to pay a visit to the winery to gain some on-site insight into the facility and its processes. This post is a report on my findings.

ZD Wines is located on Silverado Trail in the lower eastern half of the Rutherford AVA and is bordered by Mumm Napa Valley to the north, Caymus Vineyards to the west, and Beckstoffer to the south. My visit was scheduled for 11:00 am but I got there a little early and was able to roam around on the grounds and survey the beautiful views of the valley afforded by the property.

My group consisted of four people and our host for the visit was Jorge Guzman, Hospitality Lead at ZD Wines. According to Jorge, ZD is the fruit of the dreams of two former aerospace engineers -- Norman de Leuze and Gino Zapponi -- who pooled $3000 each to launch a venture aimed at making wines akin to the famed wines of Burgundy. With grapes purchased from Winery Lake Vineyard in Carneros, the partners produced 300 cases of Pinot Noir and a small amount of Riesling in 1968, their first vintage.

Grapes for ZD wines are sourced from a mix of owned-vineyards and purchased fruit (According to Jorge, fully 60 percent of the grapes utilized in wine production at ZD is purchased fruit.). Grapes for the earliest incarnation of the winery's Pinot Noir were sourced from Winery Lake Vineyard in Carneros, as were the grapes for the earliest Chardonnays. A 33-acre parcel was purchased in Carneros in 1996 and that vineyard is devoted primarily to the production of the Reserve Chardonnay (27 acres). A 6-acre block in the northwest portion of the property has been planted to the Hanzell Pinot Noir clone and is the source for the ZD Founders Reserve wine. Grapes for the Cabernet Sauvignon wine is sourced from 3.2 acres of sloping land around the vineyard plus purchased fruit from low-yielding, Napa hillside vineyards.

A number of interesting processes are employed in the cellar.  For example, the Chardonnay grapes are cold-fermented in barrels (using Champagne and Montrachet yeasts) in a long, slow process which imparts a sur lie feel to the completed wine. In order to preserve the wine's characteristics, malolactic fermentation is not allowed. The winery eschews pumping-over for maintenance of skin contact, opting instead for a manual punchdown of the cap using the device depicted below.

The winery's offerings, and associated production processes, are depicted below.

The standout offering from the producer is Abacus, an attempt on the part of the winery to retain the purity of fruit that is associated with young Cabernet Sauvignon wines while also taking advantage of the benefits bestowed by maturity. According to Benjamin Lewin MW, the mono-varietal Cabernet Sauvignon shows greater purity of fruit in its youth but is linear compared to a Bordeaux blend which exhibits a broader flavor spectrum. But, according to Lewin, it is with age that the differences between the wines really appear. The mono-varietal Cabernet Sauvignon matures but the purity of fruit of its youth yields to austerity while the blend produces the "savory notes of tertiary development." The ZD team had a similar view and set out to create a varietal Cabernet Sauvignon that would retain that purity of fruit through the ages. They accomplished this goal by blending the 1992-1998 vintages of their Reserve Cab with each vintage contributing 15% of the initial Abacus bottling. The company is on the verge of releasing its 14th bottling of Abacus.

We tasted a few of the wines before, during and after the tour. The Chardonnays were very Burgundian in tone with a richness resulting from the extended cold maceration. These wines were rich, balanced, well-endowed with bright fruit. The 2010 Pinot Noir was reflective of cherry, raspberry, vanilla, and earth on the nose and silky tannins with a long finish on the palate. The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon exhibited licorice, blackberry, and spices on the nose and black fruit and power on the palate.

I enjoyed this visit immensely and can now rest peacefully knowing that I have completed my pilgrimmage to the source -- the source of Abacus.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Abacus, Trilogie, Reserva Especial: Leading non-Vintage still wines

We are all familiar with non-vintage Champagnes but may be less so with high-quality, non-vintage, dry still wines.  In this post I will describe three instances of the latter: Chateau Le Pin's Trilogie, Vega-Sicilia's Reserva Especial, and ZDs Abacus.

Château Le Pin's Trilogie

Variously described as "hedonistic," "exotic," and "more California and Australia than traditional Bordeaux," the Merlot-based wine of Pomerol's Chateau Le Pin is one of the world's most highly desired -- and highly priced -- wines.  The estate sits on a 1.6-hectare plot of granite, clay, and sand that is planted to 92% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc (the wine is 100% Merlot), old vines that yield 30-35 hectoliters/hectare.  The grapes are hand-harvested and then fermented in stainless steel tanks.  After fermentation the wine is transferred to 100% new oak barrels for malolactic fermentation and 18 months of maturation.  The wine is subjected to egg-white fining prior to bottling.  Annual production ranges between 500 and 700 cases.

In order to maintain its high level of quality, Chateau Le Pin employs an extremely rigorous selection process.  It has been said that the wine excluded in the Le Pin selection process would be the core of the Grand Vin of many a Bordeaux estate.  These extra barrels are the source of Le Pin's Trilogie.  In any given year the estate does not have enough of this unselected wine to make a second label but, over multiple years, unselected barrels can be combined to provide enough volume for a market offering. The most recent Trilogie offering is a blend of the 2007 and 2008 vintages which can be purchased for approximately $125 at retail.

I have not tasted this wine to date.  I bought a 6-pack from Antique Wine Company in the UK but the seal remains unbroken.

Vega-Sicilia's Reserva Especial

Vega-Sicilia is a highly regarded (Lafitte of Spain) estate located in the Ribera del Duero region of Spain.  The winery, in operation since 1864, sits on a 1000-hectare property, 250 hectares of which are planted to vine: 80% Tempranillo and the remainder Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Malbec.  Planting density on the clay-limestone soil is 2200 vines/hectare and yields are 22 hectoliters/hectare, with each vine producing less than 2 kilos of wine.  The estate's Grand Vin is Unico (10 years of aging) with the second wine, Valbueno, being approachable a little earlier (5 years of aging).  If the grapes for Unico are not of the best quality, they are declassified to Valbueno and no Unico is produced in that year.  This has happened previously in 1992, 1993, 1997, and 2001.

The Unico wine is fermented for 15 days in in oak vats and are then transferred to oak storage containers for malolactic fermentation.  The wines remain in these containers for 1 year.  The Unico wine is aged for 7 years during which time it is transferred successively to barrels with less new oak characteristics.  When the desired harmony of wood and wine is attained, the wine is placed into large wooden vats to await bottling.  The wine is bottle-aged for three years. Annual production is approximately 7000 cases.

The Reserva Especial is a blend of three-years' harvests.  One recent offering contained a blend of 1991 Unico (aroma), 1994 Unico (power), and 1995 Unico (quality of finish).  These wines average $380 per bottle at retail.

I am an avid collector of Vega-Sicilia and have previously reported on my tastings of the 1970 and 1994 vintages on this blog.

ZDs Abacus

The ZD estate is located in Napa's Rutherford AVA and is the source of grapes for its Cabernet Sauvignon wines along with grapes from "low-yielding vineyards" In "recognized viticultural areas within Napa."  Grapes for the ZD Cabernet Sauvignon are hand-harvested at full maturity and transported to the winery for destemming and crushing.  The grapes are fermented in open-top stainless steel tanks for between 6 and 14 days, with cap punchdown occurring every 8 hours.  After fermentation the wines are placed in 50 gallon oak barrels for 24 months of aging.  The Reserve blend is aged for 36 months.

Abacus is a solera-type blend of all of the existing vintages of the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.  The first bottling was released in November of 1999 and contained elements of the 1992-1998 vintages.  A total of 200 cases of the first bottling was produced.

Source:zdwines.com/abacus

The 14th bottling will be released in October 2012 and it will contain contributions of all Reserve vintages between 1992 and 2009.  The 14th bottling is available from the winery at a pre-production price of $500 per bottle.  The average price on wine-searcher.com for earlier bottlings is $380.

I have tasted this wine on many occasions and have never been disappointed.  Click here for one of my tasting experiences.

Three Wines as Seen Through a Fog

Yesterday was a day of excess both in terms of quality and volume. 

It started out with the Friday wine tasting session. We shifted from our regular hang out at Antonio's to Terra Mia Brick Oven in Heathrow. Ten members of the group were present and this means that I was (heavily) exposed to at least 15 bottles of wine within a three-hour period. It was brutal and did a poor job of preparing me for the upcoming evening. 

The wine that was the most memorable of the bunch was a 2004 Petrolo Galatrona from Fattoria di Petrolo.This 100% merlot from Tuscany was one of only two wines ( the other was the 2004 Montevitrano)

to receive a unanimous top score (super wine) in 2007 from all of the most important Italian wine guides. In 2004 the winery produced 8000 bottles of this beauty. Antonio Galloni gave this wine a score of 96 while James Suckling gave it a 97.This wine is hard to come by.

The bottle tasted yesterday was opened and recorked at approximately 10:00 am.  It was re-opened at 2:00 pm for the tasting.  When poured, it had a deep inky color and was not very expressive on the nose. It had a good mouthfeel but was tight and had tannin rising. We set it aside for a while and revisited it after approximately half an hour. At this time the chocolate that is a hallmark of merlot was very apparent. The wine drank beautifully and more than fulfilled the hype surrounding it. If you see this wine you should buy it. I have paid as low as $110 and as high as $190 per bottle.  The Ornellaias and Sassicaias get all the press but this super Tuscan gets my money.

So I am in good spirits.  I am going to The Capital Grille that evening with Tom D and Bill A.  Doctor Jeff is a surprise addition to the group and that is great because he will only add to the fun. We all took wines and the lineup was truly impressive.  One of the bottles that Bill took was a ZD Abacus X and that bottle has a

story behind it. Over a year ago Bill and I were hanging out at Vineyard's and we both ended up buying bottles of ZD Abacus X.  I opened one of my bottles and Bill was so impreseed by the wine that he said he would not open his bottle unless I was there to share it.  So that bottle had stayed in his locker at the Vineyard until last evening when he fulfilled that promise.  It brought a tear to my eye (well, not really).

The ZD Abacus was my second standout wine of the day. This is a solera-style wine which is made by blending wine from all previous vintages of ZD Reserve Cabernet into a product which combines the best qualities of an aged wine with those of a young wine.  The resulting product shows great complexity and has an incredibly long finish. There have been 11 bottlings (vintages?) of this wine to date. The wine is available for pre-order from the winery for $450 but can be obtained on a request basis from your local purveyor for around $330.

The third standout wine for me was the 2003 Penfolds Grange.  Grange is by far the most recognized of

Australian wines and has been consistenly rewarding drinkers palates since the mid-1950s.  While not receiving the accolades of the surrounding vintages (the '02 was awarded a 98 and the '04 a 99 by Parker), this wine performs admirably outside a drinking window which is expected to run, according to Jay Miller of the Wine Advocate,  from 2014 to 2030.  This Shiraz has been blended with 3.5% Cabernet from Coonawarra and was aged for 15 months in new American oak.

Ok. I am done now so let me go back and continue the recovery process.