ZMV is proud to announce the beginning of our extended family wine club just in time for the Christmas season. Become a charter member and order wine for yourself, any member of your family, or friends.

Here’s how it works. The member will receive 2 bottles of ZMV premium wine quarterly. Along with the wine, the member will receive specific information about the wine, recipes for pairing and special events in our area.

The membership costs are $125 for 8 bottles of wine (2 bottles each quarter) for 1 year. Membership price for the wine includes our 1/2 case discount of 10% plus an additional 5% for the extended family club members. Of course, shipping is free within CA and a minimal charge to other states. Also, the member is entitled to an additional 5% discount on any purchase in our tasting room.

A membership will be a great Christmas gift to remind the receiver of your thoughtfulness each quarter with minimal effort on your part. Orders can be made on-line at our web site ( www.zuccawines.com) or in our tasting room.

If the order is made before Dec. 10th, the first shipment will arrive before Christmas with a Christmas card from you.

Busy Crush Season at ZMV

Crush started in August at ZMV this year with 8 tons of wonderful Syrah grapes from Ferriere Vineyards in Calaveras County. The grapes were a deep red color and very tasty. We crushed other beautifully grown varietal grapes such as Cabernet franc from the Ferriere Vineyards, Zinfandel from Crystal Terraces Vineyards and Cabernet Sauvignon from Hawk Hill Vineyards. Also, due to popular demand, we are making a Syrah Port for our port loving customers.

Carol quits teaching to make wine and tour Italy

Carol has been teaching mostly high school Biology and Chemistry since 1984 with some college teaching thrown in during that time. Before that time, she did ecological research in Puerto Rico and Florida.

She quit teaching last June to put her Biology and Chemistry knowledge to the practical use of full-time wine making. She thinks making (and maybe occasionally drinking) the wine is much less stressful than teaching high school students. She has a Masters Degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry and part of a PhD as well. She has also taken many enology and viticulture classes at UCD to perfect her winemaking skills. Both she and Gary are going to tour the wine country in northern Italy this October to look at other ways of making wine. Gary’s grandfather was originally from Milan and they made wine at home during his childhood. His father was a lawyer turned restaurateur and a wine connoisseur.

They bought inexpensive tickets on-line, are renting a car and staying at pensiones. Should be great fun! One of the perks of the wine business is that the trip is deductible. They’ll take pictures and let you know in their next newsletter of exciting places you can go and see if you can travel to Italy in the near future.

Gary teaches and makes wine

Gary started out his career as a naval officer aboard destroyers and spent a year in Viet Nam during the war on patrol gunboats as an advisor to the Vietnamese Navy. He retired from the Navy and finished a PhD in Sociology and Organization Behavior. He has been teaching college ever since. About 6 years ago, he and Carol decided to open a winery instead of just making wine for themselves. Gary still teaches college, makes wine, directs winery operations, and develops business plans for the winery. He is really busy but loves all his jobs. Neither he nor Carol could possibly slow down nor do they want to. They both view the wine business is a continual challenge. There is always something to learn and enjoy.

ZMV family winemaking philosophy

ZMV is a family owned and operated winery that wants to stay small to make certain that their wines are of premium quality. All the grapes are hand-sorted to allow only the best to go into their wines.

We also want to promote Calaveras County wines and buy what grapes we don’t produce from small, quality local growers. We want to work closely with our growers to develop personal relationships that endure over time. Since the common goal of both growers and winemakers is to make the best wine possible, it is a team effort.

One of the main goals of starting ZMV was to create an opportunity to bring our family together. Each member of the family contributes in different ways. Matt is an engineer, Michelle is a marketing expert and Tony is a molecular biologist, Darrell (Carol’s brother) and his wife Kathy cater at special events and design innovative equipment for winery. They are a very talented group.

How Port is made

ZMV had a wonderful experience making their first Port vintage this year. Port originally came from the Duoro region in Portugal. In the 1800’s, wine was frequently shipped to England. In order to preserve it for the long trip, shippers fortified it with grape brandy. Brandy is still used today.

Regular wine is fermented to dryness or less that 0.5 % sugar. However, during the fermentation process with port, the brandy is added to stop the fermentation, leaving the port with 8—10 % sugar and 20 % alcohol.
Some ports are ready to drink when bottled. However, a great vintage port can be kept for 15-30 years in the bottle and continue to improve. There is a custom in England to give a new born child a bottle of Port to be consumed on the child’s 21st birthday. One of their customers said she has a bottle that was 25 years old (her age) and hasn’t drunk it yet. Could you wait that long?

Our Port will spend 18 months in oak barrels and will be released in 2003. You’ll have to wait until then to see if it a really great vintage port year.

Gary as wine educator

Gary just recently gave a presentation and wine tasting to the Arnold chapter of SIR, Inc. According to Gary, the history of winemaking in Calaveras County could be summarized by boom, bust, boon, bust, boom. It boomed in the late 1800 when Calaveras was the 4th largest wine making county in the state. Winemaking busted at the turn of the century only to rebound again during prohibition. At this time people were making “sacramental” wine and grape juice, some labeled: “WARNING: Contains grape juice. Do not add yeast or fermentation will occur”. The industry went bust until the late 70s growers began to focus on growing premium grapes to make premium wines that could compete with other winemaking areas in the state. Gary thinks to sustain the boom, the area must continue to make superior wines constantly strive to improve our wines.

Recipe for Brazilian Fiejoada (fay-zhwah-dah)

This combination of dishes and flavors is a rendition of a Brazilian holiday feast that the Zucca Family find an interesting alternative to the traditional holiday turkey (adapted from Great Dinners from Life, 1969, Time/Life Books). Try it if your family is adventurous. It includes:

1. White rice: make according to the package instructions.

2. Black beans: you can make them from scratch but they take forever and too often taste like BBs. Use a can and heat.

1 4 1/2-5 lb loin of pork (10 chops)

2 tsp salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 cup orange juice

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 tablespoon ginger

1/4 tsp powdered cloves

Preheat the over to 325°F

Place pork, fat side up, in a roasting pan, insert thermometer, cook and heat to

More Holiday Recipes

4. Baked Bananas with Rum

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1 Tbs butter

2 Tbs white rum

6 medium-sized underripe bananas

Preheat over to 400°F. In a small saucepan, mix sugar, lemon juice, butter and rum together and simmer for 10 minutes. Peel bananas and slice in half lengthwise. Place them, cut-side down on a buttered baking dish. Pour the hot syrup over them. Bake for 15 min., turn and bake for the remaining 15 min.

5. Onions in Hot Sauce

1 large onion

3 Tbs olive oil

3 Tbs red wine vinegar

1/4 tsp salt

Peel onion and slice very thin. Cover with boiling water, drain and rinse with cold water,. Mix the oil, vinegar, Tabasco,and salt in a bowl, Add onion slices and marinate at room temperature for 3 hours

6. Sliced oranges

7. Heated smoked sausages

either Portuguese linguica or Spanish Chorizo

8. A bottle of ZMV Syrah or Zinfandel

· Grape Stomp in Murphys, Sat., Oct 6th

· ZMV pours @ Sutter Hill Wine Fest on Sat. November 10th in Sutter Creek

· Fall escape for wine tasting on the day after Thanksgiving, Fri, Nov 23rd

· Christmas Holiday Open House with Santa on Sat., Dec. 8th from 11 AM to 5 PM

• Carol leaves teaching to be a full-time winemaker
  
  
• Gary teaches college and makes wine
  
  
• ZMV family winemaking philosophy
  
  
• Gary as a wine educator
  
  
• The Port Story: How it is made
  
  
• Holiday recipes
  
  
• More holiday recipes
  
  
  

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