Zenaida Cellars: A Pleasant Surprise

Heading south on highway 101 from the San Francisco Bay area, we’re on our way to the San Simeon coastal area.
Upon reaching Paso Robles, we head west on highway 46. Our last trip across this shortcut to California coastal Highway 1, was in the early 1980’s.
As we drive along, we are amazed at all of the new wineries that have sprung up. Where did all of these wineries come from?

We decided to stop at one of the first wineries we see and it happened to be Zenaida Cellars.
After sampling some of the wines in the tasting room, we immediately joined their wine club and try to visit at least once a year.

Eric Ogorsolka is the man behind Zenaida Cellars. The winery was started back in 1988 when Eric’s parents purchased the land where the winery and vineyard sit today. Eric was still attending Cal Poly earning his BS in Ecology and Systematic Biology at the time but helped his dad by designing and planting the vineyard.
After getting the vineyard planted and producing, Eric began to expand his wine knowledge. Biologist as his day job, Eric went back to school, attending UC Davis’s enology extension courses. Eventually, landing his first wine job with Ken Volk at Wild Horse Winery in Templeton and then moving into a position with Kendal-Jackson Winery. Eventually in 1998, Eric made the first official vintage of Zenaida Cellars and has been working on developing the wines ever since. Ground broke on the winery building in 1999.

Zenaida Cellars is located in the Templeton Gap area, west of Paso Robles, at the base of the Santa Lucia Mountains. Temperatures here can reach highs of over 100 degrees during the day, while dropping into the fifties at night. This can result in the production of some very big red wines, especially the zinfandels that prevail throughout this appellation.

Sustainable practices are followed at Zenaida Cellars and include the following:

In The Vineyard: Perennial grasses- Perennial grasses planted in vine row middles help to:

1. Prevents erosion
2. Provides habitat for beneficial insects. Biologically based farming methods help to manage pests in the vineyard, so harsh synthetic chemicals are not needed.
3. Controls dust to improve air quality, also inhibits pest such as mites to disperse.
4. Adds an organic source of nitrogen as “green manure” or as nitrogen fixers such as clovers.

Water Quality/Conservation

1. Drip irrigation allows water to be placed only where vines need it at a controlled rate, preventing soil erosion and promoting water conservation.
2. Strategic run-off inhibitors. Preventing runoff in the vineyard is done with the use of perennial grasses and strategically placed straw bales.
3. Chemicals used for weed control that are known to travel through soils and infiltrate water supplies are not used.
4. Use of water tensiometers or pressure bombs help to avoid over watering causing run-off, and helps in water conservation when deciding when to irrigate the vineyard.

Biologically Based Farming Practices:
1. Habitat encouraged for beneficial insects such as green lace wings, parasitic wasps, and other pest predatory organisms. Vine middles are mowed high part of the year to allow habitat for beneficials.
2. Owl boxes. Numerous nesting sites for Barn Owls are located throughout the vineyard to encourage barn owl to take residence. Barn Owls eat and feed to their babies an unbelievable amount of rodents including gophers and mice every night.
3. Hawk perches. Tall perches are located in the vineyard. Predatory birds will utilize high lookout perches to hunt for prey. Hawks presence will also deter birds that damage crops

At The Winery: Recycled Materials: All promotional materials such as; newsletters, stationary, and business cards are printed on recycled paper. Even paper towels and TP are made of recycled paper.
1. Our wine shippers are made from recycled material, and are completely recyclable.
2. All winery waste water is recycled. We collect and distribute all waste water back into the vineyard.

Sustainable practices:
1. The wine cellar is naturally cooled using “night-air” fans.
2. The Loft and Cellar-Master Suite utilize organic cotton sheets and towels.
3. Only sustainable products are used, such as Aveda biodegradable shampoos and amenities.
4. Organic or sustainable raw materials are sought out for any construction or re-modeling.
5. The Big Blue Bin; we recycle all glass, paper, cardboard, plastic, metal, wood products that pass through our doors. Items we can’t recycle we donate to habitat for humanity or other organizations such as Am-Vets or Salvation Army.
6. All cleaning products used at the winery are “green” or sustainable products.
7. Tank-less, on demand hot water heater, saves energy and resources.

Mulch: Recycled Grapes: Even the stems, seeds, and skins are re-used. We recycle our grapes into mulch, adding local non-synthetic fertilizer (chicken manure). We tend our blend to make super high grade organic mulch/fertilizer and then spread it back in the vineyard. Benefits include:
1. Improved soil health, (healthy soil means a soil which contains mychorrizal bacteria, earthworms, and other beneficials) which leads to …
2. Improved vine health, (Vines not isolated in sterile soils dependant on synthetic fertilizers) ,and ultimately …
3. Improved wine quality .

Future Plans: We are always trying to raise our level of sustainability and plan to add wind powered generators and eventually solar power to offset our dependence on fossil fuel generated power.
1. The Gap Fueled Wind Powered Winery
2. Sun Powered Solar Fel
3. Off the grid guest accommodations (wind and solar powered cabanas).

Our Favorite Wines

We enjoyed all of the wines offered at Zenaida Cellars, but our favorites are the following red wines:

Zephyr Estate Cuvee
The inspiration behind this blend is the wines of Cote Rotie. Syrah and Viognier from this region are commonly grown together in the same fields and are picked and fermented together.

Fire Sign Estate
Fire Sign brings together the best aspects of the Estate Vineyard and a “no holds barred” winemaking philosophy.

Zenaida Cellars Tasting Room is open daily from 11am – 5pm.

Zenaida Cellars
1550 Highway 46 WEST, Paso Robles, CA 93466
(805) 227-0382 or (866) 936-5638
Email: info@zenaidacellars.com

Website: http://www.zenaidacellars.com