In 2016, siblings Mark and Lisa Mazzoni broke ground on their new winery outside of Geyserville, but this wasn’t a brand new project, it was a continuation of their family legacy dating back in Sonoma to the 1800s.  Mark and Lisa are fourth-generation stewards of the Mazzoni estate. While their family sold fruit to icons like Jordan and Kendall-Jackson for decades, Mark returned to the estate and launched a new label to craft their own exceptional wines from their best fruit.  The Zialena wines represent a distinct, lighter style, owing largely to their beautifully designed winery which houses massive concrete fermentation tanks.  The zinfandels in particular uniquely receive no new oak, giving a light, aromatic freshness to the wines that is unlike any other zin in the area.  We’re excited to pour several vintages tonight and have Mark here to discuss his process.

Prior to releasing his wine brand, Xander spent over 20 years working on digital music technology with Apple, where he was the co-creator of GarageBand, and contributed to iTunes, iPod and iPhone product development. Xander has been applying the same obsessive design sensibility to his wines, beginning with a tiny production in 2012.  The Maison team has been honored to be a small part of this process of extreme iteration, having blind tasted the XS wines hundreds of times over the years prior to their first commercial release in Japan in 2023, and in California in 2024.  Always tasted alongside world class producers, we often picked Xander’s wines as our favorite.  After years of worldly pinot noir comparisons, we are beyond excited to host a launch party for Xander’s first ever chardonnay.  We’ll be pouring a flight all evening, including several pinots and the brand new chardonnay.

We are incredibly lucky to have Akiko Freeman with us. Freeman is a pioneer of extreme cool climate winemaking. While many wineries go for power, Akiko's wines are celebrated for their poise and balance which is why they’ve been served at the White House and at State Dinners in Tokyo.

As Director of Winegrowing, John Hamel is committed to producing wines that reflect the character of the terroir. He and his team apply a micro-terroir-based winegrowing approach, adapting vineyard and winemaking practices specifically to the volcanic soils across Hamel’s vineyards. John has also led the transition of the vineyards to dry farming and implemented organic and Biodynamic vineyard management practices.

A brand new label from young winemaker Adam Edelman, trekking all the way down to Santa Barbara from his home in St. Helena to craft the ocean influenced wines he wants to drink.