Zepaltas Wines

Zepaltas Wines
5832 La Cuesta Dr
Santa Rosa, California
USA 95409
http://zepaltaswines.com/

Contact: Ryan Zepaltas
Email: [email protected]

I found the winemaking process and the work more interesting. I stayed on for a couple harvests and soon found out about harvest jobs in other countries. “You me I can go all the way to New Zealand to do pumpovers and clean presses! Hell yeah-sign me up for that.” Secretly, it was just a way to travel without saving up much money. I figured I’d go a month early to do some skateboarding and partying and then buckle down for harvest. Something happened during that harvest that caused a change in my mindset. I realized that I kind of liked this whole winemaking thing. I learned a lot that harvest at Villa Maria working under Michelle Richardson and her staff. They gave me a lot of responsibility, and it was very rewarding work. I then decided that I would actually start taking this winemaking thing seriously. I decided that, when I came back to the states, I would try and get a job at small winery. I figured that they most likely would be focused on quality wines, and that that would give me a chance to learn all aspects of the winemaking. I spent that summer in Sonoma County doing whatever cellar work was available. I had been signed up with a temp agency that was finding me winery work, and one day they told me about a harvest opportunity at a winery called Siduri. Never heard of it (at that time I was not a full-fledged wine geek. I didn’t really follow producers or read the magazines.) They asked me to show up for an interview. I went and met with Adam and Dianna Lee. They told me that they were making Pinot Noir, and were starting to make Syrah under the label Novy Family Wines. It seemed like a good match, and the interview went well. After a couple days in suspense, they called me to tell me I got the job.

I have been at Siduri since that day. We have made a ton of great wines, and it has been a blast the whole time(and it still is today.) So all of a sudden I got this little project going on the side…can’t explain it really.

Winemaker: Ryan Zepaltas

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