United States · California

ZD Wines

ZD Wines is a Napa Valley producer founded in 1969 by Gino Zepponi and Norman de Leuze (the Z and D of the name), establishing one of the valley's earliest dedicated Chardonnay and Pinot Noir programs before those varieties dominated California fine wine. The estate produces wines from purchased fruit across multiple California appellations, with the flagship Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from Napa Valley. The Cabernet Sauvignon leads at auction with 87 lots averaging $117 per bottle and the 1997 vintage most traded — a critical high-water mark for the estate's Cabernet program. The Abacus is ZD's most conceptually distinctive wine: a perpetual blend of every ZD Cabernet Sauvignon vintage dating from 1992, with each edition adding the current year's wine to a running solera-like blend. Abacus XVI averages $66 across 10 lots. Founders Reserve Pinot Noir averages $53 across 19 lots with the 2003 vintage most represented. Auction prices span $6 to $677, with an overall average of $95. ZD occupies a reliable mid-premium tier: not in the ultra-luxury Napa conversation but consistently producing wines that score 90–94 points and reward 10-plus years of cellaring for the Cabernet.