ZD Wines Abacus XXII

ZD Wines Abacus XXII

ZD Wines Abacus XXII, Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley, North Coast, California

ZD Wines is a producer based in the Rutherford appellation of Napa Valley in California, focusing on Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Its most notable wine is Abacus, a solera-style bottling that blends together 23 vintages of the company’s reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, setting it apart from all other wineries in Napa Valley.

ZD Wines was established in 1969 by former aerospace engineers Norman DeLeuze and Gino Zepponi. They wanted to make wines from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, so they set up the winery in an old barn in Sonoma, and sourced fruit from what is now the Napa Valley side of Carneros. They named the wine ZD, not only to signify the initials of their last names, but also as an acronym for Zero Defects, a term used at the quality control program at their former job at Aerojet. Zepponi unfortunately died in 1985, and DeLeuze and his family took full ownership. The winery experimented with several grape varieties over the years, but decided to narrow its focus to just Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon in 1987. ZD acquired land in Rutherford, where the current winery was built.