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.
I love the Dashe wines! Cool to see they are taking a different approach with this wine and making something a bit more subtle for the "old world" palate if you will.... I'll have to seek this out at the wine shop.
Posted by: Thomas @ The Blog Wine Cellar | February 10, 2010 at 08:56 AM
I loved these comments about the wine--it's such an unusual zinfandel, and it's tasting great right now. I thought your comments were right on target; we're trying to make a wine that has many of the more drinkable qualities of the lower-alcohol European wines with the vibrant zin fruit of California. An experiment, but we like the results. A lot. Too bad there's none left! (But the 2009 should be out in June or July....) --Mike
Posted by: Michael Dashe | February 09, 2010 at 08:50 AM