TN: 2007 Zepaltas Barton Vyd. PN

I am tasting my way through the Berserker Day Case Special of Zepaltas wines. I have generally enjoyed what I have tried thus far, but until this bottle I have only opened the appellation bottlings in the case. This is the first single vineyard Zepaltas wine I have ever had.

Popped and poured, this is translucent in the glass. The nose is full of pine needles. First taste, and I am definitely digging this one. Forest floor, pine resin, cherry pit, no cola. I am impressed with the absence of sweetness and with the lightness of the palate presence in this wine. I normally shy away from RRV pinot because I find many of them to be large, heavy and sweet. This is not that. I’m looking forward to seeing how this evolves over the next few hours, but it is outstanding right now.

Outstanding timing. I have my bottle on deck.

Brad,

Although I have not tried the Barton PN, Ryan’s pinots aren’t typically big wines but they don’t lack interesting flavors.

I’m not sure there is a better pinot producer that has their entire portfolio under $50. The sauvignon blancs, syrahs, chardonnays and roses he produces are outstanding as well, especially for the price. If he starts producing a zinfandel from an old vineyard like Papera, I may have to buy stock.

Monte

Monte,

I have in the back of my mind the memory of a conversation I had with my friend (and Berserker) Mike M., who said (I think) that you were at Zepaltas when he tasted there on a vacation a year or two ago. Mike was the guy who suggested I needed to try these wines, and I know his palate to a degree. Am I remembering this correctly?

Whether or not I’m making this up in my mind, I agree that the wines I’ve had from Zepaltas have not tried to be big wines. I find them interesting, and I’m going to be a buyer in the future.

Brad

Full time member of the Zepaltas pep squad!

I also really enjoyed the Barton. We tasted it last Sat. and took a bottle to dinner - it was singing! Glad you enjoyed it! From what I understand Ryan was able to source from this vineyard just 1 year and the owner sold it off so this was a 1 shot deal.

Also really liking the '10 W.E Bottoms, that was also coming out of the bottle nicely and looking forward to seeing how it evolves. I’ll try to get around to posting my notes on my visit with Ryan tomorrow.

Something about Ryan’s wines really sticks with me. For the price points I just keep coming back to his lineup. My favorites are Suacci and W.E Bottoms.

Brad,

You are correct. Mike and I met at the Siduri Novy tasting room. We actually met on these boards and realized we were going to be in Napa & Sonoma at the same time and discussed meeting for a tasting and settled on Siduri since he had never been there. I was going to do a tasting with Ryan afterward and asked if he wanted to do it as well. At this point I hadn’t tasted a Zepaltas yet. The sauvignon blanc that we started with was an eye opener. His initial vintage of Hanzell chardonnay was still in barrel so he used a thief to create a “beaker blend” that is still one of the best chards I have ever tried.

The Suacci pinot was the star. We tasted it and there must have been 30 seconds of dead silence. Ryan asked if everything was OK. We were all lost in thought. It is my favorite tasting room moment to date. It was that good. And it was cool that everyone agreed.I’ve been a huge fan since that day.

We ran into Mike in Napa Valley WIne and Cigar the next day when I went to get a Winecheck.

We did an offline with Ryan in Houston that was a blast. He’s got his wines on a few restaurants here so he’s here promoting occasionally. If you get the opportunity to do a tasting with him, it is worth it.

Monte

Was originally looking at picking up my intro case special and doing a tasting with Ryan tomorrow (Fri) but ended up moving it to Monday - after reading these posts I’m wondering if I can move it back to Fri [cheers.gif]