ZD Wines Pinot Noir
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Learn about ZD Wines Pinot Noir Winemaking,
or enjoy one of our Pinot Noir Wine Pairing Recipes.
$45
2010 Pinot Noir, Carneros - Buy Now
The 2010 harvest reminded everyone that Mother Nature is always in charge. A cool, wet spring set flowering and fruit set back by at least two weeks, followed by a cooler than normal June/July and then a two day heat spike in August that wiped out previous heat records and about 20% of our Pinot Noir crop. Needless to say, there were many sleepless nights for everyone. But, as always, patience was rewarded in the end, and a somewhat smaller pinot crop ripened perfectly through September and when Jim Haire arrived on Oct 5th with the first pick of our organically farmed Clone 667 Carneros Pinot Noir, we were reminded once again why the Carneros produces some of the best Pinot Noir in the world. With a gorgeous dark ruby color, and intense aromas of briary black cherry and raspberry mingled with hints of cedar, sarsaparilla, and rhubarb, this 2010 Carneros Pinot Noir is drinking beautifully right now and should age gracefully for many years to come. Enjoy!
-Chris Pisani, Winemaker
- 90 points - Wine Enthusiast, December 2011
$65
2009 Founder's Reserve Pinot Noir, Carneros
- Buy Now
ZD Wines’ organically farmed Carneros Estate Vineyard has been producing exceptional Pinot Noir for ten years now and this 2009 vintage is a testament to the effort we make both in the vineyard and with our winemaking. With its notoriously small bunches and berries from the Hanzell clone, and its low yields (~2ton/acre), it has always rewarded us with a wine that has a focused purity of fruit and great concentration. The vineyard is dry farmed and meticulously tended to by our vineyard manager Rafael Llamas, who worked very closely with Norman and Robert in establishing the vineyard blocks in 1996. Organic farming methods have been employed from day one, a passion of ZD founder Norman deLeuze, whose picture graces the bottle. In the cellar, gentle winemaking practices ensure that we preserve the many efforts taken in the vineyard. This includes gentle de-stemming followed by fermentation in small open top fermentors with hand punch-downs every six hours that ensure a gentle extraction of color and tannin. Minimal racking and aging in small toasted French oak barrels for 15months puts the final touch on this elegant wine. This wine has aromas of black cherries, ripe plum and subtle notes of rhubarb, toasted nuts, sweet vanillin and cedar. On the palate, there is plenty of dense ripe fruit, with an excellent acid tannin balance that will ensure its longevity. We only produced 780 cases of this wine and we hope you enjoy this labor of love!!
-Robert deLeuze, CEO/Winemaster
- Gold Medal - Tasters Guild International Tasting 2011
