ZD Wines in Rutherford, Napa Valley, was founded in 1969 when Norman deLeuze and Gino Zepponi, both aerospace engineers, decided to make Burgundian style wines in Sonoma County. The men bought a winery permit and made wine with purchased grapes out of a farm building in Carneros. A decade later the families purchased six acres along the Silverado Trail in Rutherford. Today the 36-acre estate includes vineyards in Carneros and Rutherford, and the winery is owned and operated by the deLeuze family. ZD Wines makes Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and a Rose. California Wine Writer James Laube has written that ZD Wines “quality across the board is good to outstanding, with each of the wines showing an exotic edge.”