Chenin Blanc Is the Little Black Dress of the Wine World
By Jake Abrams | Wine Enthusiast

Published: June 17, 2025

We’re thrilled to see our Dry Chenin Blanc featured in the latest Wine Enthusiast article celebrating this versatile, vibrant varietal.

Review | 94 Points — Tonya Pitts
"This wine is lush, bright, with aromas of peach, apple, white flowers, guava, pineapple, and orange blossom honey on the nose. The flavors on the palate are ripe cantaloupe, peaches, Meyer lemon zest, layers of mineral, creating mouth watering texture and a dry juicy finish. Pair with Grilled Sand Dabs."Big cheers to the Chenin Blanc Revival and thank you to Wine Enthusiast for the love!  Come taste why this wine is turning heads. Hit the link  to see the full article. 

Best Wines to Pair with Summer Dishes

Written by Hugh Garvey

See our favorite wine pairings here. The Sunset Wine Club is a selection of story-worthy wines produced by the top growers and vintners in California, Oregon, Washington, and beyond. We’ve partnered with the country’s premier online wine retailer, Wine Access, to curate a standout mix of reds, whites, bubblies, and rosés to drink this season. Think of each delivery as a box of aperitifs, party-ready bottles, and weeknight dinner solutions. Even better, they’ve been selected to go with the recipes and menus in the current issue:

2018 Dashe Cellars Zinfandel Les Enfants Terribles, Mendocino Ridge: This super food-friendly Zinfandel has enough acid to cut through the richness of fried or grilled food, with a peppery spice and silky juiciness that’s delightful at the table or before the meal.

Recipe: Tacos La Paz

 

California’s Top Zinfandels: Tasting at ZAP 2024

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE

BY: VINOGRAPHY WINE BLOG

 

 

Wine Scores

At large walk-around tastings such as these, my goal is to taste widely, and as such I record only scores, not tasting notes. These wines were tasted rapidly over the course of a couple of hours. While I am quite confident about my quality judgments, knowing the circumstances under which these scores were recorded, you may consider taking the ratings with a grain of salt.

I have linked the top-scoring wines to Wine Searcher (when results are available) to facilitate searching and purchase of these wines. The prices listed were provided by the wineries, which means you can usually find these wines at retail for slightly less.

 

2022 Dashe Cellars “Vineyard Select” Zinfandel, California. $24

 

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Best Local Winery 

Dashe Cellars

LINK TO ARTICLE

 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

 

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Best Local Winery 

Dashe Cellars

LINK TO ARTICLE

ALT ZIN:  California Heritage Vine Finds a New Beat 

"You really have to shake off your preconceived notions," Anne Dashe

 

A new style of zinfandel has emerged, one that emphasizes spicy finesse over extracted power, and it all started with the friendship between winemakers Mike & Anne Dashe and chef Mark Ellenbogen of SF's The Slanted Door.

For our summer issue, critic Patick J. Comiskey took a deep dive into the revolution in America’s iconic wine, interviewing the Dashes and Ellenbogen, as well as many of the coterie of younger winemakers now working this way.

Read Alt Zin at the link below:

CLICK HERE FOR THE ARTICLE

BY: Patrick Comiskey 

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'Les Enfants Terribles' Zinfandels

In 2007, Michael and Anne started a new series of wines that they dubbed “Les Enfants Terribles,” wines that were inspired by many of the French wines that they admired, with balance, complexity, lower alcohols, and beautiful fruit aromatics and velvety textures. These easy-to-drink and expressive wines are a great complement to their lineup of classic “Signature Wines,” such as their Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel, for which they had built a reputation since the winery’s birth in 1996.

93 Points - 2018 Zinfandel, Heart Arrow Ranch 'Les Enfants Terribles' 

We take this fruit from the biodynamically farmed Heart Arrow Ranch in Mendocino Co, ferment using whole clusters and uncrushed grapes, followed by aging in 900-gallon casks to create a wine that is more similar to a Beaujolais than a California Zinfandel. Soft and velvety with flavors of black cherry and strawberry.

 

2018 Zinfandel, Mendocino Cuvee 'Les Enfants Terribles"

The grapes for this blend came from Signal Ridge Vineyard—at over 3000 feet, the highest elevation vineyard in all of Mendocino, Napa, and Sonoma Counties.  The elevation of the vineyard is so distinctive that it falls within a special appellation, the “Mendocino Ridge,” which is the only appellation in America that is designated on basis of elevation. The high elevation, steep slopes, and extremely rocky soil make the ideal growing conditions for making complex, balanced, compelling wines. 

We modeled this wine after Grand Cru wines from the Beaujolais region of France. Its light red color, excellent aromatics, and silky smooth texture mark it as a more “Old World” style of wine; extremely drinkable and enjoyable on its own.

Age-worthy wines since 1996

Join Mike & Anne Dashe for a deep dive into all things Dashe Cellars 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW

 

Featured Wines: 

Dashe Cellars 2018 Todd Brothers Ranch Old Vine Zinfandel,

Dashe Cellars 2018 Les Enfants Terrible Zinfandel Heart Arrow Ranch

Dashe Cellars 2018 Grenache, Clarksburg

Dashe Cellars 2018 Les Enfants Terrible Zinfandel Mendocino Cuvee

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Readers’ Picks

Best Wine Label
Dashe Cellars

PHOTO BY LORI EANES

GLIMPSES OF SAN FRANCISCO SKYLINE GREET THOSE SIPPING AND TRIPPING AROUND FOR WINE, SPIRITS, AND BREW WITH A VIEW.

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