NEWS
The Corkdork
I have to tell the world about this wine. Mike and Anne Dashe have made a Zinfandel that sits firmly within the French natural wine movement. This is everything Zinfandel is usually not --low alcohol (13.8%) lightly sulfured, organic, lightly colored, unfiltered, un-jammy...it's a beautiful departure from what we've all come to think of as Zinfandel. What's just as remarkable is that Dashe sometimes makes some much bigger Zins, like the always wonderful Todd Brothers Ranch but is willing to put out something so different. Kudos!
The grapes come from Potter Valley in Mendocino County, grown organically amongst white wine vines. Guiness McFadden has been growing in this area since 1970 and has 23 beautiful acres.
In the glass, the color is bright, light red. You might guess this was Gamay, not Zin.
On the nose, it's peppery and floral with a nice hit of cherry.
In the mouth, it's supple and fine but with a light touch. The lower alcohol and judicious sulfur additions make it super clean and quaffable. Highly recommended.
Vinography.com
The Best Zinfandels in California: Tasting at ZAP 2010
With a line snaking halfway around the parking lot by 2:00 PM, it might be easy to say that Zinfandel might be one of the more recession proof wines in California. The fact that very good bottles can be had for about $20 certainly means that there's probably a lot more Zinfandel being consumed these days than, say, Meritage blends. Read more
WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 9.5
2007 Dashe Cellars "Florence Vineyard" Dry Creek Valley. $32.
WINES SCORING BETWEEN 9 AND 9.5
2007 Dashe Cellars "Todd Brothers Ranch Old Vines" Alexander Valley. $32
2007 Dashe Cellars "Louvau Vineyard" Dry Creek Valley. $32
Zester Daily
November 20, 2009
Patrick Comiskey
"Talking Turkey About Wines"
Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel
"Zinfandel has thrived in California for 150 years; it’s the closest thing we have to a native grape variety. It has also been grown all over the state, but the place with the oldest vines is in the Dry Creek Valley, which seems to strike the perfect balance between warm day temperatures and cool nights, yielding wines of tremendous depth and purity of expression that walks the middle path with aplomb."
Producers to seek: Dashe Cellars
Wall Street Journal
“Giving Sweets A Chance”
“Another one of our favorites left us smiling for days because it was a late-harvest Zinfandel. Holy cow. Remember those? Back in our youth, late-harvest Zin was over the top in every way—too alcoholic, too sweet, too big, too muscular—and we loved it. In time, though, too many of them simply became clumsy and badly made and we moved on. We were so delighted to taste a good one, from Dashe Cellars. We called head winemaker Michael Dashe, who makes wine with his wife and co-owner, Anne, to talk about it and we could almost hear his smile. As a former assistant winemaker at Ridge, he told us that he loves Zinfandel. The Dashes make this one from vines from the Bella Winery estate, where Mr. Dashe is the consulting winemaker. The Lily Hill vineyard there makes the vines struggle, producing grapes of marvelous complexity and perfect acidity. They made 949 cases of this.”
Dashe Cellars
2007 Late Harvest Zinfandel
“So different from the monsters of our youth, far more restrained—and just 14.1% alcohol, lower than many of today's dry Chardonnays. Great fruit, fine acidity, ripe without being overly sweet, and totally winning. Dottie said she'd have this with roast duck, a surprising compliment for a late-harvest Zin. John wanted cheese.”
-Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher
October 16, 2009
Decanter Review
"Kings of Zin: Other Names to Watch"
Stephen Brook
September 2009
Decanter
"Zinfandel is an endangered species in Napa, where growers can get far higher prices for Cabernet, but it thrives in Sonoma. Dry Creek Valley is its natural home, and Dashe is a fairly new producer. Mike Dashe was assistant winemaker at Ridge in the 1990s, and his French wife studied winemaking in Bordeaux. The standard Dry Creek Zinfandel is delicious, but single-vineyard bottlings from Dry Creek and Alexander Valleys have more weight and structure."
2006 Louvau Vineyard Zinfandel
"Cherry and blueberry nose, enhanced by sweet oak. Suave and stylish, with delicious fruit, no overt tannins, and acidic bite."
4 Stars – Highly Recommended
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