Maitre de Chai, Stampede Zinfandel 2019

This wine is produced as a homage to the wines of Paul Draper of Ridge Vineyards—Marty’s father was a part of the Ridge wine club and certainly influenced how both Marty and Alex saw the possibility of California wine.

Chris Cottrell and Morgan Twain-Peterson of Bedrock Wine Co. introduced MDC to this vineyard in 2014, and was the second red to be made in the cellar. This is own-rooted Zinfandel in the “toe-hills” of the Sierra Nevada mountains that was planted in the 1940’s within the Lodi Clements Hills AVA and is farmed by the Perlegos family. The vineyard is named for the old rodeo grounds next to this vineyard, which first hosted its purely amateur horseshoe in 1942, right when this vineyard was planted. The grapes from this parcel are unique, long and slender clusters that are oversized

Maître de Chai translates to keeper of the cellar, or the person responsible for the development and aging of wine. By extension, the humble cellar master is the person responsible for the management of the winery.

Established in 2012, Maître de Chai is the personal project of Marty Winters and Alex Pitts. Together they look to make wines of high quality in a way that best showcases the sense of place where the grapes are grown and the personality of the vineyard. From the ground to the bottle, the character of the wine is the focus of all their endeavors. Sourcing grapes from unique and distinct single vineyards that are impeccably farmed in California.

As the name implies, they care for the wines in the cellar, always deferring to nature, limiting intervention. They taste and wait, allowing the wines to develop and speak for the places in which they are rooted.