Wine Country Personality: Chris Pisani

What do you get when you mix Brooklyn attitude with Napa style? The answer is some great tasting wine. Chris Pisani, Winemaker for ZD Wines, is a rare combination of east coast street smart and California cool. Growing up in a big Italian family, Chris learned to appreciate the very things that make Napa so memorable: great food, wine and company. This real-world education made him a perfect fit at ZD Wines where family is the cornerstone of the winery's values, and great wine and food fall close behind. During his formative years, Chris studied chemistry in college while spending time with his now-wife, Ina, whose father happened to make wines out of their house in Newburgh, New York. Chris watched, learned, experimented and soon he was hooked. The seed was planted and before long, Chris and Ina were moving to California for a taste of life in the wine country.

To make ends meet when they first arrived, Chris took a job at an environmental consulting firm. Shortly afterwards he followed the path of some of Napa's most renowned winemakers and attended UC Davis to study viticulture and enology. It was here that Chris fell headfirst into the world of winemaking and started down the path that would lead him to ZD.

Robert deLeuze, CEO/Winemaster for ZD Wines, was attending a job fair at UC Davis to potentially meet his next Assistant Winemaker and Chris was eager for the opportunity. They met, talked, had an instant rapport and soon Chris was joining the ZD team. When asked what made Chris stand out amid all of the other hungry soon-to-be winemakers, Robert deLeuze stated that, "Chris is an articulate, well-educated, charming man with an infectious passion for his work. He brings a wealth of knowledge to ZD, making wines (which can often be intimidating) accessible and fun."

Beginning in 1996 as an enologist, Chris quickly took on the role of Assistant Winemaker in 1998, working closely with Robert to understand the tradition and techniques that make up the ZD style. Three years later, Chris was in for another surprise when Robert deLeuze announced that after fifteen years as Winemaker he was stepping back from his role to spend more time on the management of the winery. Chris, in turn, would take over as Winemaker.

Five short years after joining the winery, Chris was responsible for producing ZD's signature-style well balanced, fruit-driven Chardonnays; intense, flavorful Pinot Noirs; and opulent, rich Cabernet Sauvignons. "It is important to maintain the commitment to quality that makes ZD Wines so unique," claims Chris. "As a family owned and operated business it is rare to see that level of commitment and I feel such a sense of pride knowing that the wines we produce are crafted from the best possible grapes, with an attention to winemaking that comes from ZD's 40 years of history and experience. When creating a wine, we create it with the customer in mind, with our fans in mind, not the critics. By enjoying our wines, they are sharing in our history, in our heart, and in the passion that we put forth every day. It's why we do what we do."

After thirteen years, ZD Wines is still thrilled to have Chris on board, helping to produce the wines that have garnered recognition in the spirit that drives our time-honored traditions.

To learn more about Chris and ZD's winemaking process, schedule a private tour and tasting with him for a one-of-a-kind experience.

Tours: By Appointment Only. CLICK HERE to learn more.

ZD Wines
8383 Silverado Trail
Rutherford, CA 94558
www.zdwines.com

ZD is Socializing - Internet Style

It always seemed to me that being social and using the internet to socialize were on opposite ends of the communication spectrum. The internet being reserved for the nerds too shy and awkward to make it in the real world. However, it seems that the tables have turned and that the “place to be” is on the internet, using sites like Facebook and others to achieve your social networking dreams.

I suppose that I was a late bloomer with this social networking phenomenon. Being that I am the “3rd Generation” of the deLeuze family at ZD and being in my mid 20’s, once I finally got signed up with Facebook, I found that the majority of my friends were there waiting for me to join the party.

The real reason that I finally made my own Facebook page was because the ZD Wines page that I wanted to create needed an administrator. However, once you enter the world of Facebook, the more friends (or fans in ZD’s case) you have, the cooler you are. So the race was on not only to make Facebook friends of my real life friends, but to get a quality ZD page going so that I would be able to build a group of ZD fans who were on Facebook. As of right now, the friend/fan score is Brandon - 63, ZD – 86.

The ZD Wines Facebook page has turned out to be a success, and I suspect that it will become more useful as more people become aware of it. I post all of our upcoming events on the page, as well as give little updates about interesting things that are happening around the winery. If you have a moment, check out the facebook site, let us know what you think about the site, and if you are a fan of our wines, become a fan of our page!

- Brandon deLeuze, Assistant Winemaker

Ecological Farming Conference - Asilomar, CA

As the Wine Educator at ZD Wines, I was excited by the opportunity to attend the 29th Annual Ecological Farming Conference to learn more about the latest trends in organic & biodynamic farming, alternative energy, and related earth sensitive farming philosophies. It was an enlightening and humbling experience on many levels.

At the conference, in the company of Robert deLeuze, CEO & Winemaster; Julie deLeuze, Executive Director; Rafael Llamas, Vineyard Manager; Barbie Jamieson, Retail Sales Director; Chris Pisani, Winemaker; and Brandon deLeuze, Assistant Winemaker, we “divided and conquered” to gather information at as many relevant seminars as possible. With so much to take in, the strategy was effective in our efforts to access the immense knowledge, experience and optimism present at the conference.

It was an eye-opening experience listening to some of the true pioneers of the organic farming movement, some of whom have been actively transforming the industry since the late sixties. Pioneers though they may be, they were as diverse as the crowd of professionals you might find at a Grateful Dead show (in fact, Jerry Garcia’s widow had an inspiring short film on “soil” that I viewed with the ZD boys). It was refreshing, as we all seemed to connect on a deeper level, and it made me proud to work for ZD, whose belief and focus on organic farming began in the early 1980’s.

For the sake of efficiency I am going to list several of my highlights from the conference:

• There are billions of farmers on this planet growing the crops we eat while there are only a handful (3 or 4) of Multinational Corporations (MNC’s) that control the channels in which this food is “dispensed” back to the billions of us that eat it. Something’s fundamentally wrong with this picture, as many of the people growing the food are dying of starvation, at the expense of the MNC’s profit!

• The amount of potential energy produced everyday by the Sun is equivalent to all of our stored energy (oil, coal, and natural gas) on Earth! It took billions of years to store these “reserves”, so we should treat them as such and focus on Solar and other renewable energy sources.

• “Conventional” farming actually depletes our soil, while Composting actually builds soil! Compost is the best natural fertilizer that you can find, and it’s even better if you produce your own. It adds organic matter back to the soil, helping build up our soil, rather than using it up!

• Organic Farming is not just a movement; it’s the way the world needs to farm! While science has provided some conveniences (pest control & increased yields) during the past century, these techniques are not sustainable. We need to get back to our “roots” and encourage science to incorporate a more natural and sustainable farming focus.

I hope that you who have taken the time to read this have found something to inspire you to help make this world a better place. I know I am a fortunate lad who’s trying to lead by example, and may you do the same. Let’s toast (with your favorite ZD, of course!) to making this world a better place to live, one glass of wine at a time!

~ Trent Ghiringhelli, Wine Educator

ZD Wines Book Club

Move over Oprah. Granted, she may be the greatest force in publishing today, but look out because the fast-expanding book club at ZD Wines is here to stay. Although we may not have the power to raise authors from the dead with a wave of our hand, or banish them from bookshelves across the nation with a disapproving nod, ZD does have one thing going for it – community. In this community of authors, photographers, winemakers, locals and visitors a collection of beautiful books has sprouted up that captures the spirit of Napa Valley living. A small but coveted collection, the “book club” at ZD echoes Oprah’s in that each book is hand-selected for its style, distinctiveness and, perhaps most importantly, because it features ZD Wines!

Our “book club” also has another thing going for it – you can enjoy the wines while you leisurely thumb through the pages of each book in our tasting room-themed bookstore. Drink in the photography of Robert Holmes in Passion for Pinot, test your local knowledge with the California Directory of Fine Wineries, spruce up your coffee table with Spectacular Wineries of Napa Valley, or get an insider’s look at the heart of this community with portraits of the winemakers, owners and workers in Napa, Behind the Bottle. We may not be bringing recognized masters to the masses, but we are bringing little-known gems to the discerning, wine-loving people supporting ZD Wines! So grab a book and a glass of wine and join in…

The books in our club make excellent holiday gifts whether they are used as beautiful coffee table displays, as a means for expanding one’s Napa Valley knowledge, or as an addition to a literary collection. To learn more about the books in the ZD book club or to order today, click here. As a reminder, 50% of retail proceeds will be donated to the UC Davis deLeuze Family Endowment for a Non-Toxic Cure for Lymphoma for the month of December.

Reminiscing On Our 40th Harvest

I like to describe the success of ZD Wines as a realization of the American dream. As a child, the winery was all fun and games for me. Looking back, I appreciate that my parents were driven by a desire and work ethic that was immeasurable. Starting with almost nothing, both partners and their families attacked all the challenges of building and running a winery while holding down full time jobs. During those ten years from 1969 to 1978, our harvest grew from 6 to 94 tons. As my dad, Norman, liked to point out, that was an annual growth rate of 36%. In those early days, it seemed to me that we would never grow to a sustainable size capable of actually paying a salary!

Today, in our beautiful facility located in the heart of the Napa Valley, we are living the good life. Being careful to respect our history and traditions, we continue to learn and make use of the best new technologies to improve both our grape growing and winemaking techniques. We have been fortunate to build a great team of people that are a joy to work with and add real value to our company and community. Of course, none of this could have happened without the amazing support from our loyal customers.

Looking ahead, we are in a great position to take advantage of new opportunities to improve our company and our environment. We will never stop learning and striving to create magnificent wines and a better world to enjoy them in!

From our family to yours, a toast to you and the American dream!

-Robert deLeuze,
Winemaster, CEO, Partner

Harvest Patience for Great Wine

Well, Mother Nature finally decided to cut us some slack today. After five consecutive days of scorching weather (think 98-105F!!), we have finally returned to a normal Napa Valley weather pattern. It’s times like this where you really need nerves of steel.

The hot temperatures do tend to ramp up the sugar in the grapes, giving the impression of ripeness, however, sugar is not the only indicator of maturity. As the valley began to “buzz and hum” with a rush to get fruit off the vine, we visited our two Pinot Noir vineyards daily. Knowing that the fruit still needed at least another week, if not more, and we stuck it out. It is better to bring in fruit when it is ready to make “great” wine, and not harvest in a panic which often leads to merely “good” wine. It looks like our patience will pay off. So, when will we harvest? This seems to be the question that everyone keeps asking.

Here’s the report: Pinot from both ZD’s deLeuze Family Vineyard and Jim Haire’s vineyard will most likely be picked early next week. The fruit held up amazingly well, and is really starting to taste great. Chardonnay, believe it or not, holds up incredibly well in hot weather (you gotta love Chardonnay for this!!!) and probably needs another two weeks. The Chard from down south (Monterey & Santa Maria) is still at least three weeks away. Our closest Cabernet’s are ZD’s Rutherford Estate Vineyard and Vineyard 7070 in Yountville. Both may come in late next week.

This, of course, is all tentative, as things can change in a moments notice. This is what makes winemaking such an exhilarating endeavor; watching, waiting, tasting, testing, worrying and waiting some more. Finally, the time comes to ask Rafael, ZD’s vineyard manager, to ready the picking crew. Bring on the light boom, our Carneros night harvest is about to begin….

Chris Pisani
Winemaker