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Dr. Barrett 01:06 Introduction of Dr. Steve Zichichi

You went from a full time very busy practice down in Metairie, Louisiana, and now you have been a full-time winemaker for what going on 20 years or so.

Dr. Zichichi 02:56

We opened the winery in 2006.

I bought the vineyard in 2000. And then we start we actually started making some wine and oh four, but it wasn't made our winery facility hadn't been completed yet. So, the facility was completed in 2006 and we opened to the public and the first harvest was done in that fall of 2006.

Dr. Barrett 03:28 Tell us about your vines

Dr. Zichichi 03:41

Yeah, you know, I'm really blessed Steve. I mean, the purchase of the property is, is certainly a story. But the oldest vines were planted in 1928 and the youngest vines on the property were planted in 1965. So, they're not juveniles either.

Dr. Barrett 04:30

Now before you got to that process where you were starting to look for a vineyard for your own. Tell us a little bit about how you got immersed into the world of wine.

Dr. Zichichi 04:41

I started visiting the California wine country in the late 80s. And I started in Napa like most other people do, and then I gravitated towards Sonoma County and developed some friendships. And one day I was visiting and one of the owners said, let's go tour up in northern Sonoma County. And so, we spent the day we drove up to Dry Creek Valley. This was in 1995. And I was just smitten by the beauty of it. Dry Creek Valley reminds me so much of Italy--of Tuscany. And I was totally smitten by the valley. And then in 1998, I came in spent a week here in Dry Creek Valley with some wine drinking buddies, and my wife and his wife and, and that was kind of it, I made up my mind on that trip that I wish I would try to buy a property. And you know, the rest is history.

Dr. Zichichi 06:14 He tells his great story of obtaining the vineyard property

Dr. Barrett 08:47 A little impulse purchase?

Dr. Zichichi 08:53

That's correct. That's correct. And she was ready to move. The next day. She was like, let's just leave everything and go. And I of course, I said, you know, I can't do that. I need at least a year. And it took all of a year to tie up loose ends and I plugged somebody into my practice, who was very good. And you know, so that that worked out very well. And we moved a year later after Hurricane Katrina and drove cross country in the suburban with two of my four kids and then my wife flew out with the two babies a week later. In fact, we stopped at your house and on the way.

Dr. Barrett 09:45 I remember that very well.

Dr. Zichichi 09:49

And it was a lot of fun. The kids still talk about that trip and, you know, we appreciate all your generosity.

Dr. Barrett 10:07  That's a major life change to go from super active practice.

Dr. Zichichi 10:49

That's correct. You know, my, my brain started spinning and working. As soon as I completed the sale of the practice, I was like, God, I would love to do this at some point. And what people may not understand is the whole wine country, it's a lifestyle, and just intertwined. You know, we live on the property, and it's the most beautiful area. And it's such a friendly group of people, everyone helps everyone, and it's not competitive at all. And I also knew that it was a much better place to raise my kids. And just to spend, you know, the second half of my life in in Northern California wine country.

Dr. Barrett 11:47 What about wine education?

Dr. Zichichi 12:12

Well, you know, I've always learned to let the experts do what they do best. So, I have had the same winemakers since 2007. And he actually approached me before we even started, and I knew him from the early 90s. I'd met him at a winery in Sonoma, and we kept in touch and he was very well respected. And then he approached me when he heard I was doing this project. So, I was interviewing winemakers. And all of a sudden out of the blue, I got a phone call from him and, and it's worked very well. It's been a great situation. It's allowed us to have consistency of wine. You know, I've run the operation, he knows exactly what I like. And, and I've certainly learned through the years. And we have a great vineyard manager who takes care of the vineyards and, and it's a small team, but it runs very well.

Dr. Barrett 13:28

There's so much that goes into, you know, just putting a bottle on the table for somebody to enjoy. You know, the French talk about terroir. And I think you probably have an understanding of terroir. Now, more than you ever did before. Because like you said, you're living on this property every day, it's more than just farming some grapes.

Dr. Zichichi 13:55

That that's very true. And what a lot of people don't understand is all the different soil types and the micro climates that occur here on the Pacific coast. And everything goes into play the age of the vines, the root stock are vines of the old French root stock, which was brought over by the Italians in the early 19th century. And we're very blessed because they're resistant to disease and the vines can certainly live to be 130 or 140 years old. But we have this great cooling influence from the Pacific Ocean and the Russian River where fog rolls in in the morning and it really cools off at night. We may have a 40 to 50 degree temperature swing. And I know this morning I was out and it was 46 degrees, but we'll be in the 80s this afternoon, and that's just perfect for the grapes because it allows the grapes to rest at night. And then once it starts warming up, the sugars build and the grapes mature and ripen.

Dr. Barrett 15:15

And you just told me before we jumped on recording that you still have a few grapes to harvest.

Dr. Zichichi 15:20

We do we still have a little bit of Petit Syrah left and it's one of our most sought after wines and it's also it's always late in ripening. I think you've enjoyed the wine. It's a nice full-bodied wine.

Dr. Barrett  15:38 I think you're petite Syrahs are actually one of the best wines I've ever had, and I started drinking it before you even had your label on it. But it was your fruit. And yeah, I've been a huge fan and I when I first started getting into wine, I could never understand why they would call Petite Syrah petite. It's anything but. It's like Superman coming out of the bottle. You know, I mean, your stuff is so inky-it's just deep. I mean, it just resonates with what I think a red wine should be. You almost want to take a bite out of it. It's that good.

Dr. Zichichi 16:15

Yeah, it's it's a special wine. And we have customers describe it as blueberry cobbler and a glass. Petite Syrah is known for its blueberry and blackberry flavors. And I think it got its name because the berries are small. It's small berries, really tight clusters. And it is a blending grape in the Rhone Valley. In France. It's called Durif. But it was it was the grape was introduced by a French gentleman named Francoise Durif. And it's a great grape here. It grows really well. It likes the hot dry climate that we have in Dry Creek Valley. And it's perfect for this valley.

Dr. Barrett 17:12

I I've been a big fan of it. I can't tell you, the audience how much I enjoy that. In fact, sometimes I'll just randomly text you and say, Hey, I'm drinking some of this. It's really, really good. And so that's it's one to be proud of no doubt and that. I'm not trying to take any anything away from the Zinfandel that you make, because that's pretty spectacular, too. But there's something magical about the Petite Syrah. And I wanted to ask you about some of the smoke and the fire issues and everything because I've been drinking the 21 that I just got from you. What about the fires? How did that because people always ask me, What about smoke taint? What about the fires?

Dr. Zichichi 20:38

Our first 11 years living here, we, you know, I heard about forest fires, we never saw any in our area. And I just thought we were kind of immune because of our proximity to the coast. Then in 2017, there was a big fire south of us about a half hour south. And it really destroyed a lot of Santa Rosa, which is the biggest city in the area. Then in 2020 was the fire that affected us and it was just a mile or so west of us. It was caused by the remnants of a hurricane that blew up the coast and there was a big lightning storm. It happened at the exact worst time. It happened in the middle of August, which was a few weeks before harvest, and the smoke team destroyed our crops. So, we did not make any wine in 2020. And it was the right decision. Because we have such a loyal following. And we didn't want to ship tainted wine to customers across the country.

Dr. Barrett 21:51

That's gotta be very tough. From an economic standpoint, all of a sudden, you have no product for that year.

Dr. Zichichi 21:58

Yeah, yeah, we took a little bit of a hit there, that's for sure.

Dr. Barrett 22:03

But I think that's one of the other nuances of great wine that says that they can't be great every year because you're dealing with variables that you simply cannot control. And no matter how great your winemaker is, they still have to have something to start with.

Dr. Zichichi 22:20

That's very true. And, you know, it's I always say we are farmers, you know, and we're at Mother Nature's beck and call there and, and there are little challenges at different times. You know, we've had a little bit of rain this month that we would prefer not to have, but most of the fruit is in and the quality of what's out there is really good. You know, we're just so blessed to have this wonderful little vineyard. It doesn't matter how good your winemaker is, if you don't start with good fruit, you're not gonna make good wine.

Dr. Barrett 22:57 North Georgia Wine and the Dark Side of the Moon

Dr. Zichichi 23:51

That's very true. And, you know, the weather prevents a lot of areas from being able to grow good grapes.

Dr. Barrett 24:00

Now, what, when you got into this, what was one of the biggest hurdles that you had, that you didn't imagine before you got into it?

Dr. Zichichi 24:13

You know, again, we were very fortunate to have this property and this was the first property the only property we owned at the time, that one of the biggest problems is we would sell out of wine so quickly. I when I bought the property in 2000. We sold the grapes to St. Francis winery in Sonoma, and they did a vineyard designate on the bottle and it would say St. Francis wineries that Zichichi vineyard. Well, they developed a huge following for the wine. And then when we started making our own and stoped selling it to St. Francis we inherited this, this very large client base and you know, St. Francis winery is making a million cases of wine, whereas we make between 4000 and 5000 cases of wine. So, I knew after tasting their wine, I knew the grapes were good. I knew the wine was good. And I knew we could do an even better job. I feel we have, we have had to expand. And in 2015, I bought another vineyard down the street. And an elderly gentleman came in my office one day and told me he was tired of farming it and that he was going to put it on the market and thought maybe I'd be interested. And it was Zinfandel and Petite Syrah, which is right in our wheelhouse, exactly what we wanted. And so we made the deal happen. And it's been, it's been great, it's been a really nice blessing in that we've been able to increase inventory. And we have a little wine in the tasting room instead of selling everything out as futures as we do off of our home ranch. But we do have some wine in the tasting room for people when they come in. And it's been a lot of fun having that product.

Dr. Barrett 26:16

Now. Are you blending that with? What is from your original property? Are you keeping that as a separate block? How are you doing that?

Dr. Zichichi 26:24

It's it's all separate, we call it north block, simply because it's a half mile north of here. And but it is separate. The vines were planted in the early 90s. And it's totally different soil type just a half mile away. It's very sandy instead of Rocky, gravelly soil type. And, but the winds are very nice. They're more medium bodied, they're not as full bodied. And they're approachable, younger, and they've certainly got a fan base. It's been a big hit.

Dr. Barrett 26:59

That's great. That's, that's great that you were so successful that you were allowed to be able to expand, because I guess that's a great problem to have not enough wine for your demand.

Dr. Zichichi 27:10

Yeah, it's, it's, it's a another somewhat funny story is I when I bought that property in 2015, and when we closed on it, we were as my family was sitting around having dinner and my kids were younger, they're in their teens are younger. And I told them, we were sitting there having dinner, and I started thinking, well, now with this property, you know, this could support more than just our family. It could it would allow us to expand our business. And if my kids wanted to come into the business, it could support them. So, we're sitting there having dinner, and I said, I said guys, I said you may not appreciate this right now, but today was a very big day in your future. All right. And the boys looked up at me and they went, “Yeah, yeah, dad pass the potatoes.”

Dr. Barrett 28:09 Did your wife know you bought that one?

28:14

Yeah, I told her about that. Okay, about that one. And, and we, we got a, it was quite a good deal at the time, price wise and, and my wife--Her nickname is the mouth of the South. So, before we closed on it, I told her, I said do not mention this to anyone. And it worked out. And she was happy about that. You know, she's all in now. And the whole winery, and she knows it's been a great place to raise our family. And it's a great place to live.

Dr. Barrett 28:55 Do the kids love wine?

Dr. Zichichi 28:58

They do? Yeah. Yeah, they do. They all and enjoy the wine. And, uh, my second oldest son is now working at the winery. He graduated in college in May and he started working with us in June. And he's helping me on the in the tasting room and just learning how to manage everything about the business.

Dr. Barrett 29:23

Fantastic. You mentioned something earlier that I wanted to follow up on and that is the collegiality of the wine world. It's so it's an unusual thing, because you can go out and almost anywhere in Napa or Sonoma. And you can be at a great winery and having something and then you can ask them the question well, when you're not drinking your own wines, what do you like to drink? Oh, go down, right this you know, there's a little place down the street to you know, turn second, right and tell him I sent you down there. That's the kind of stuff you get all the time. That's pretty rare in a regular business environment.

Dr. Zichichi 29:57

It's very true and as more and more wineries start up, and California wine country customers come, and they really think it's a competitive business, and they constantly asked me about that, but it is the exact opposite. And everyone is friendly and trying to help everyone else out. We all know the more people that come to California wine country, the better it is for all the wineries and so everyone tries to help each other out and refer people and you know, of course, we have our favorites that we refer to for the types of wines that we enjoy. And we tailor to we know what our customers like so we know where to try to refer them.

Dr. Barrett 30:48

When you're not drinking one of your own. What do you like to drink? Well, not not the brand, but the variety.

Dr. Zichichi 30:54

You know, I have a very diverse palate Steve I drink a lot of Sonoma County wine. I've I like some Pinot Noir was from Russian River. I also like a lot of Pinot Noir is from Oregon. But I have an international palate too. I very much enjoy Italian wines and Spanish wines. And so I'm all over the board and my cellar is pretty stocked with international wines as well as a library reserve of our wines and some of my friends wineries here wines.

Dr. Barrett 31:33

Yeah, so do you like Bordeaux's?

Dr. Zichichi 31:37 I do, but as I age, I try not to buy some that have to age 30 years.

I did buy some during the 80s I spent some money and bought some nice first growths from Bordeaux so I can enjoy those now. But really don't buy much in the way of Bordeaux is these days?

Dr. Barrett 32:06

What do you like from Italy? Do you like the super Tuscans?

Dr. Zichichi 32:09

I do like the super Tuscans very much and just you know I love Brunello, and the baby Brunello. I took my family in 2019 Right before COVID. I took them to Sicily for three weeks. And you know, that's where Zichichi is a Sicilian name. And that's where we're from in the western part of Sicily. So, we spent three weeks in Sicily and I fell in love with the Sicilian wines also.

Dr. Barrett 32:43 What is their predominant grape in Sicily?

Dr. Zichichi 32:47 Discusses the different varietals in Sicily.

Dr. Barrett 33:37 What would you tell somebody who's thinking about doing what you did? Tell your wife that you bought the winery before you buy it?

Dr. Zichichi 33:51

That's probably that's probably a good idea. You know, it's, it's such a wonderful lifestyle. I have a lot of customers that come in the tasting room daily, and they always tell me you're living our dream. And, and I said, you know we have to try to live out our dreams, right? You have to you have to go for it. And I was in practice for a long time and this was something I really wanted to do. It was my dream and I pinch myself on a daily basis as I look out my window and walk out in the morning and I'm living in the middle of a vineyard in the mountains and I look up at our winery and I know you know the new crop is going to be really special wine and then each day I get to come up to the tasting room and everybody that comes in is happy. You know everybody's got a big smile on their face and laughing and loves being out here and they're on vacation and it's not really work. It's just socializing with people and our whole life. Our whole business model is, is built around relationships and, and we've developed such good relationships over the years with our customers. And, you know, we're friends and we keep in touch and they come in town and we go to lunch or we go to dinner. And, and it's been a whole lot of fun. It's truly isn't work. I tell people that all the time.

Dr. Barrett 35:22

Well, it's work, but when you love it, it's less work.

Dr. Zichichi 35:26

That's right. Yeah, that's true.

Dr. Barrett 35:27

I mean, you still are working your ass off.

Dr. Zichichi 35:53 Our website is:  https://zichichifamilyvineyard.com

Dr. Barrett 37:19 So I've got to ask, do you ever miss the clinical day to day?

Dr. Zichichi 37:25 Ah, not a day.

Dr. Barrett 37:42

Yeah. I remember one day you were you were tweaking me. You called me out like, Hey, what are you doing? I said, I'm, I'm in the belly of the beast here, man. I'm in the clinic. And you said, I'm just up here at the tasting room trying to figure out which glasses that I want to select, you know. That's like rubbing salt in the wound, you know. But yeah,

Dr. Zichichi 38:03

I have a few buddies in New Orleans who are still in Madison. And they are longtime buddies from high school and from my LSU days, and, and they come out to visit fairly regularly and they enjoy my wines. But sometimes my phone will ring and I'll pick it up. And all I hear is “you suck.”