Mazette - 'Natural Tendencies' - Grenache, Syrah - Santa Barbara County, CA - 2024

@zachy.petersen, mazettewines

Notes from the Winery/Importer

A blend of naturally fermented rosés and whole cluster Grenache to balance freshness & depth. Unfined, unfiltered and minimal effective sulfites. As a believer that wine holds memories -- of the season, farming and winemaking journey...a time capsule if you will -- I do not like limiting the wine's expression in the cellar. I find that making light reds by shortening skin contact time or other tricks to make the wine more fridge-friendly and approachable interfere with the "sense of place" that is possible in a wine. So, I make the best rosé I possibly can and the best red wine I can. In my case, I like whole bunches. Blending these two fully realized wines together, we get a fresh example of the two. A harmonious meeting in the middle. Estate farmed, regeneratively grown Syrah and Grenache + Grenache sourced from a friend's organic vineyard.

Notes on the Producer

A nascent wine project by one of the brightest stars in a brand new generation of SB vignerons. Zach is making all the right wine choices and, thusly, all the good flavors. Mazette is for the people, rooted in the desire to share wines that carry meaning beyond what’s in the glass. We are a farming focused winery dedicated to growing in our craft. Zach Petersen, the farmer and winemaker behind Mazette, has always found joy in making and sharing things he cares about. Zach is more of a starving artist than a collector of luxury as a result of relentlessly following passions. He is driven by curiosity, connection, and a deep respect for the old ways of doing things. He buys local, eats organic, and values process over perfection. The wines of Mazette are a reflection of that ethos. We seek a certain wildness in the vineyards we work with—a feeling that they belong to the land rather than being forced onto it. As a small, solo operation just trying to make things work, we’ve turned to rehabilitating small, overlooked plots—half-acre to three-acre sites scattered across the Santa Ynez Valley. Some were planted decades ago and forgotten, others inherited by folks who didn’t quite have a plan for the vineyard. We call them “pocket vineyards,” and we take them in like strays, farming them by hand with the goal of restoring balance to both the vines and the soil beneath them.

Our approach is rooted in regenerative practices: no-till farming, diverse cover cropping, and reintroducing native species to encourage a healthy, self-sustaining ecosystem. Much of our energy is focused on building soil life. The vines almost feel secondary—dare we say—because we believe that if the vineyard ecosystem is thriving, the best fruit will follow. By listening and adapting to each site’s natural rhythm, we’re able to farm vineyards that are full of life and harmony, and that’s what allows us to make the best possible wines with that true sense of place we are all after.
Even when we’re not directly farming a site, we try to maintain a deep connection to it. We’re in the vineyards across the region, throughout the season. Walking rows, observing the stresses and changes, tending to sites…staying close. Our relationship isn’t transactional—it’s emotional. This closeness keeps us grounded in the vintage and guides every decision we make. We seek out older vines in vineyards with clear coastal influence. Often we are drawn to places that represent the natural habitat of Santa Barbara County and explore them as a way to understand the ever-evolving history of our region’s terroir.
Mazette aims to capture the spirit of our slice of California and the immense energy expended to take our grapes to the glass. Every decision in the cellar is an extension of our experiences farming throughout the season. We believe that our farming and vineyard sourcing coupled with our intentional process in the cellar infuses a certain “aliveness” in our wines – an honest representation of time, place and process, captured in a bottle.

Fermentations are spontaneous, carried out by native yeast. We use minimal sulfur, refrain from additions, and let the wines take shape naturally. Most all red wines are fermented whole cluster with little destemming, if at all. White wines are barrel fermented. All wines are aged in neutral French oak barrels.
The result is a range of fine wines, and some wines (like our sparkling Blanc de Blancs) that belong at a long, lingering dinner just as much as they do a house party. We strive to make all our wines accessible and transparent.