Zenaida Cellars

Zenaida Cellars wines are made using only the highest quality fruit from our estate vineyard & our small group of Paso Robles AVA growers. The vines are meticulously pruned and thinned to ensure even ripeness throughout. At harvest, the fruit is hand-picked & brought into the winery in the cool of the early morning. We process the fruit without the use of pumps or augers, thus eliminating excess handling. The grapes are de-stemmed, not crushed, chilled, & then fall directly into small, open top fermenting bins below. The bins are then wheeled into the winery to settle and begin fermentation. We utilize whole cluster & carbonic maceration during fermentation. The fermenting must is mixed by hand two to three times daily to ensure superior color, structure, & balance of the finished wine. Our red wines undergo extended maceration & are pressed to select French oak barrels or puncheons to age approximately 18 months before bottling.

The home vineyard is located in the Templeton Gap area, west of Paso Robles, at the base of the Santa Lucia Coastal Range. The 35 acre property consists of 22 acres of vineyard that is farmed utilizing sustainable practices. The winery occupies the original homestead of the property, dating back over 100 years. Utilizing the same low impact philosophy in the vineyard & in the winery. Eric maintains that farming & living sustainably will not only produce higher quality wines, it will also help leave the land in better condition than he found it.