Wine of the Week! 10/28/24

Lapis Luna Zinfandel

Normally $17.99 / Now on Sale for $14.96
80% Zinfandel, 20% Sangiovese (Mendocino County AVA)

Winemaker Nicole Walsh has devoted her adult life to wine.

Originally from Saginaw, MI, she graduated from Michigan State University with a B.A. in Horticulture/Viticulture, having spent some of her final semester at Universidad E.A.R.T.H., a sustainable agricultural concern in Costa Rica. It was there that she cemented her dedication to sustainable agriculture. For the next decade plus, Walsh did everything from vineyard management to grower relations to property development (She became the production manager for Randall Grahm’s Bonny Doon Vineyard.) to, of course, winemaking.

In 1999, Walsh founded Lapis Luna Wines in Apple Valley, CA, just northeast of Los Angeles. In 2018, California wine group WarRoom Ventures acquired Lapis Luna. They engineered a partnership with the Pauli grape growing family in Mendocino County, and WarRoom and Walsh oversaw a rebranding and re-launching of Lapis Luna in its current incarnation. Two years later, when Randall Grahm sold Bonny Doon to WarRoom, Walsh continued to oversee Bonny Doon’s production.

Walsh buffs up her Zinfandel with a little bit of Sangiovese. Keeping the grapes from separate parcels separate, she cold settles them for 72 hours, leading up to a long, cool fermentation in stainless steel. So, this wine is all about preserving and presenting the strength of that Mendocino County fruit.

The result is smooth and delightful and just what you want in a Zinfandel.