Zepaltas was founded by Ryan Zepaltas, a self-described Wisconsin beer drinker who moved to the Russian River Valley in 1998 and started working at wineries. A serious skateboarder, Zepaltas found he liked wine and wineries. For a while he worked at entry level jobs and harvest in other countries before returning to California and working as a winemaker. Zepaltas makes a wide range of wines from grapes sourced from numerous northern California appellations.