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This young vineyard planted in an extremely rocky dry riverbed in the north of the Dry Creek Valley is rapidly becoming a favorite vineyard site for Dashe Cellars. The 2007 version of this zinfandel shows all of the intense, complex aromatics of the previous vintage, as well as the depth of flavor and mouthfeel that characterize the wines of 2007.
2007 Zinfandel Florence Vineyard
History
The vineyard—owned by Jack Florence of Rockpile Ranch fame—was planted from cuttings of the St. Peters Church clone, taken from the Rockpile Ranch.
The 2007 vintage produced particularly well-structured, dark, intense wines. The wine from Florence vineyard showed its typical perfumed aromas of violets and lavender, and rich flavors of black raspberry, chocolate, and clove spice.
Production
We used our special custom-made gridded tanks to ferment the wines. These tanks, outfitted with stainless-steel grids that can be raised or lowered on top of the crushed grapes, allow us to submerge the cap of grape skins beneath the surface of the fermenting wine. We extract color, body, and complexity from the grapes without extracting too much of the drying tannins found in the seeds. The result are intense and complex wines that feel velvety and round on the tongue rather than harsh or tannic.
As is our tradition, we conducted the fermentation using only the natural yeast population on the grapes. During fermentation the temperature was allowed to get up to 88º F, to aid in the extraction of color and flavor. At dryness, the wine was gently pressed in a membrane press and pumped to small, 60-gallon French oak barrels.
The wine was aged for 14 months, and was racked about every three months up to tank and then back down to barrel to clarify the wine and aid in its development. In our blending trials, we decided the wine was superb on its own, and did not blend anything else to interfere with the intense, lovely fruit.
Production Notes
Varietals: 100% Zinfandel from the Florence Ranch
Appellation: Dry Creek Valley
Alcohol : 14.6 % by vol.
Time in oak: 12 months
Oak: 100% French; 18% new
Production: 476 cases, 750mL
Release date: September 1, 2009
Sugg. retail price: $32.00 bottle, 750mL
Optimum time for consumption: 2009-2016
Tasting Notes
Color: Reddish-purple.
Aroma: Aromas : Aromatic notes of lavender, violets, and black raspberry
Taste: Taste : Black raspberry, blackberry, cassis, chocolate, clove spice, long persistent finish of blackberry and black raspberry fruit, sweet chocolate and spice.
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