Abacus wine full#

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.

Abacus wine full#

In these early days both deLeuze and Zepponi had full time jobs and 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 вЂ“ used in engineering вЂ“ 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 вЂ“ 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 LeeвЂ™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.