Zepaltas Suacci Vineyard Pinot Noir 2013
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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.
Fast forward to summer 1998 in the Russian River Valley. Ryan had just moved to Sebastopol to live with his aunt and uncle. He made friends with Mike Mendenhall, the then cellar master at La Crema, who would later offer him a job.
He gradually found the winemaking process and the work more interesting. He stayed on for a couple of harvests but soon found out about harvest jobs in other countries. It was working harvest at Villa Maria under Michelle Richardson where Ryan truly discovered his passion for wine. When he returned back to the states, he worked all over Sonoma County doing whatever cellar work was available. Eventually, he would hear about a harvest opportunity at Siduri. He interviewed with Adam and Dianna Lee and has been at Siduri ever since.
Ryan has made a ton of great wines with Siduri and has had a blast the whole time (and still does to this day). He decided that one day he was going to make his own wines in the style that he envisioned and would start his own project on the side… thus, Zepaltas Wines was born.
The Sonoma Coast AVA is large in area but, not counting overlapping regions like Russian River Valley, only has a few thousand acres of grapevines—and it’s no wonder. Much of the region is rugged and not easily accessible. Its proximity to the Pacific Ocean’s fog and cool breezes limits the varieties that can be cultivated, but it proves to be an ideal environment for high quality Pinot Noir.
Since fog is a frequent fact of life here, as are heavy marine layers that sometimes bring rain, the best vineyards are wisely planted above the fog line, on picturesque ridges that capture enough sun to provide even ripening. That, with the overnight drop in temperature that reliably preserves acidity, results in fine expressions of Pinot Noir that often receive tremendous critic and consumer praise alike, and are often in high demand.