Winery Exclusives
Our limited production wines are available by visiting our winery, shopping on-line or joining our wine club. They represent some of our fun experiments as we continue to learn or wine we can only make a little of.
2009 Grenache Blanc
Grenache Blanc is a white grape variety indigenous to the Rhône Valley of France. It is commonly blended with Roussanne for Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc. We planted 3 acres in front of the winery in 2005. The resulting wine has rich melon and peach aromas and flavors that marry with toasty oak from ten months of barrel aging. This medium-bodied wine will pair well with baja fish tacos, Szechwan shrimp, or chicken and basil pasta over the next several years.
2009 Z Blanc
This special blend of Grenache Blanc, Roussanne and a little Viognier represents the best of our vineyards while capturing the individual characteristic of each grape variety. The grapes were hand harvested, fermented and barrel aged for 10 months. Each grape variety adds its own personality: Grenache Blanc brings notes of apricot and melons; Roussanne adds flavors of pears, figs, honey and spice; and Viognier shows beautiful white flower aromas and stone fruit flavors. These rich layers of flavor create a wine greater than the sum of its parts and enable it to be enjoyed now or cellar for three to five years.
2010 Z Gris
In France, rosés are common in the warmer, southern regions where there is demand for a dry wine refreshing enough to be enjoyed on a hot summer day but which still bears some relation to the red wines of the region. Our Z Gris brings this tradition to life with our long history of growing Rhône varieties.
Available April – October.
2009 Grenache
Our Grenache has red floral, strawberry, raspberry and smoky aromas and flavors with a long, lingering finish. Although it is great as an aperitif, it can easily be enjoyed with mild cheeses, grilled salmon, or lamb kabobs over the next five to seven years.
2007 Mourvèdre
Our Mourvèdre has blueberry, plum, pepper, dried meat and smoky aromas and flavors with a long, lingering finish. It can easily be enjoyed with bold cheeses, grilled steaks, or lamb stew over the next five to seven years.
2008 Eight Barrel Syrah
The Eight Barrel Syrah is the familiar Zaca Mesa Syrah of rich blackberry, cassis, white pepper, and our signature sage spice flavors with espresso and smoky vanilla aromas from the oak aging. The ripe tannins allow this wine to be enjoyed with hearty foods or cellared for up to ten years.
Others’ Opinions
Grenache Blanc
"Appealing for its juiciness, with touches of ripe tangerine, Meyer lemon, yellow apple and spice. Medium-bodied. Drink now. -MW" 86 points. Wine Spectator, Web Only.
"A very rich, opulent white wine, made from 100% of this rare Rhone variety. Brims with spicy tangerine marmalade flavors, with the vanilla and smoky caramel from ten months in French oak. A brisk spine of acidity provides clean balance to the richness." 89 Points Wine Enthusiast, November 2010.
Z Blanc
"Appealingly tangy lemon flavors are as lip-smacking as a lemon drop, with a rich texture and echoes of a toasty note lingering in the background. Grenache Blanc and Roussanne. Drink now. - MW" 87 points, Wine Spectator, Web only.
"Super rich, with exotic flavors of vanilla orange cream, pineapple brulee, pear tart and yellow apricot jam. The poulence is balanced by fine acidity, but the wine is a little too forward, lacking nuance. A blend of Grenache Blanc and Roussanne." 89 points Wine Enthusiast, November 2010.
"The top white is their 2008 Z Blanc, a blend of 69% Grenache blanc and 31% Roussanne. Quince , honeysuckle, white currants, and white peach notes jump from the glass of this serious, dry white. Medium to full-bodied, and a good example of a Santa Ynez version of a white Chateauneuf du Pape, this wine has full-bodied texture and plenty of pure floral notes. Drink it over the next 1-2 years." 89 Points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, August 2010.
Z Blanc
“The 2007 Z Blanc, a blend of 74% Roussanne, 22% Grenache Blanc, and the rest Viognier, is an outstanding white wine, with plenty of peach, honeysuckle, apricot, all backed up by lots of spice and a hint of smoke. The wine is fleshy, full-bodied, beautifully pure, and very long and authoritative. This is a wine of elegance and power, and again proves the brilliant potential for Rhône Ranger white varietal blends from California’s Central Coast. Drink it over the next 2-3 years.” 90 Points, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, August 2009
“This is one of the best Rhône white blends out there. It’s generous in smoky oak-influenced orange and pear crème brûlée and honey flavors, with spicy notes and a firm minerality. But best of all is the racy acidity that makes it so fresh and clean. Roussanne, Grenache Blanc and Viognier.” 92 Points, Wine Enthusiast, November 2009
Z Gris
"Zaca Mesa accomplishes the difficult task fo creating a ripe, fruity rosé that finishes thoroughly dry. This is a minor miracle in California. It's all Grenache, which accounts for the cherry flavors, but there's a bracing minerality and fine, clean acidity." 90 points, Editors' Choice, Wine Enthusiast August 2011
Grenache
"Grenache is one of the hardest varieties to get right, and Zaca Mesa has had brilliant successes as well as not so great. This '08 is somewhere in the middle. It's beautifully ripe in cherry fruit, with a pretty veneer of smoky oak, and feels vital and layered in the mouth. With the weight of Pinot Noir, it should develop interestingly over the next five years. SH" 89 points, Wine Enthusiast, November 2011.
Grenache
"This spectacular 100% Grenache is a huge success. It's so delicious, you can hardly stop drinking it. Just oozes in raspberry and red cherry puree and caramelized, smoky oak richness, yet is thoroughly dry. An amazing, unforgettable wine that establishes a new benchmark for California Grenache from this winery that was an early poineer in Rhone varieties." 95 Points, Editors' Choice. Wine Enthusiast, October 2010
Mourvèdre
“Intense, with spice, beef, pepper, tar and leather flavors that are firm and structured, framed by firm tannins and ending with a tarry, minerality. Decant for now. Drink now through 2015. —J.L.” 88 Points, Wine Spectator, web only 2010.
Eight Barrel Syrah
"Profoundly rich, offering massive blackberry, currant, chocolate, bacon and spice flavors that are liberally oaked. A fine structure provides needed balance, with strong, finely ground tannins and brisk acidity cleansing the palate. Young now, and should develop for the next six years." 93 points. Wine Enthusiast, September 2010.
"The wine is impressive. Dark ruby/purple, with a nose of smoke, black cherry, black currant, and spice, it is rich, medium to full-bodied, elegant, and appealing. Drink it over the next 3-6 years." 88 Points, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, August 2010.
