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This is a classic example of a Dry Creek Zinfandel: elegant, balanced, and layered with loads of fruit flavors and a velvety, voluptuous texture. The trademark characteristics of zinfandel from this area are in abundance—black raspberry and cassis fruit, mineral and earth, and clove and black pepper spice—and we expect this wine to develop and improve nicely over the next five or so years.
2008 Dry Creek Valley
Zinfandel
History
As always, we make this wine from a number of
small, family-owned vineyards in the center and north of the Dry Creek Valley.
Since Dry Creek Valley receives coastal fog and cooling influences in the
evening and early morning, the grapes from this area show a bright acidity
which balances the forward fruit from the vineyards, resulting in a long-lived
and balanced wine.
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, using these grids, 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.
All of the wines were fermented using only the
natural yeast population on the grapes—our trademark and tradition at Dashe
Cellars—and the resulting wines are intriguingly complex and luscious. During fermentation the temperature was
allowed to rise to between 85 and 90º 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 barrels.
The wine was aged for 10 months in a older French
oak and American oak barrels—including our 900 gallon French oak casks that
allow us to gain the softness of oak aging without adding excessive oak flavors
in the wine. In the 2008 vintage, all
barrels were at least one year old and as old as seven years, so as to reduce
the effect of oak on the fruit. As is our tradition, we also kept the SO2
levels in the wine to an absolute minimum, and did not fine the wine before
bottling. In our blending trials, we
added about 5% of petite sirah (for structure and aging potential) and 2% of
carignane for softness and texture.
This wine is ideally paired with grilled meats,
roast chicken, pasta dishes with robust sauces, lamb entrees, or simply as a
delicious aperitif wine before dinner.
Production Notes
Varietals: 93%
Zinfandel, 5% Petite Sirah, and 2% Carignane
Appellation: Dry
Creek Valley, Sonoma County
Alcohol: 14.5 % by vol.
Time in oak: 10
months
Oak: 80% French & 20%
American; 0% new. 1800 gallons aged in
large (900 gallon) French oak casks.
Production: 4147
cases, 750mL
299 cases, 375mL
Release date: February
15th, 2010
Sugg. retail price: $24.00 bottle, 750mL
$13.00 bottle, 375mL
Optimum time for
consumption:
2010-2016
Tasting Notes
Color: Reddish-purple.
Aroma: Black raspberry, black cherry, cassis,
mineral, chocolate, black pepper, clove.
Taste: Black
raspberry, cassis, and concentrated black
cherry fruit, chocolate, clove spice, good acidity, velvety texture on the
mid-palate, complex, long sweet finish of black cherry fruit, licorice, and peppery
spice.
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