Dashe www.dashecellars.com
55 4th St, Oakland, CA 94607
(510) 452-1800
Total production about 10,000 cases.
90 2009 Dashe McFadden Farms Riesling (Mendocino) $20
Overall: Excellent acidity supporting concentrated apple and pear fruit with minerality. Reminiscent of a serious German Kabinett, but with some CA fruit thrown in.85 2010 Dashe Vin Gris Rosé (Dry Creek Valley) $14
55% Grenache, 30% Petite Sirah, 15% Zinfandel 13.4%alc
Overall: Very dry and stony with tart raspberry fruit and a pleasantly bitter finish. A good all purpose food wine that is austere, not fruity. Tastes like a French rosé from Provence.87 2009 Dashe Grenache Les Enfants Terribles (Dry Creek Valley) $24
100% Grenache 14.2%alc
Overall: Excellent acidity and tart strawberry and raspberry fruit with minerality. Drinks a lot like a classic, very good, but not exceptional, Southern Rhone. Again, good food wine.90+ 2008 Dashe Todd Brothers Ranch Old Vines Zinfandel (Alexander Valley) $32
98% Zinfandel, 2% Petite Sirah 14.8%alc
Overall: Pretty, deep garnet with plenty of refined fruit and minerality, restrained. Like the tannin and acidity based structure with perfect balance. A solid middleweight plus with very good fruit, but far from a fruit bomb. Has distinctive, subtle blueberry fruit with a prominent iron and mineral component that adds a slight bitterness, not a bad thing. This is more complex and elegant than the majority of Alexander Valley Zins. Tasty now, but holding something back. Revisit in 2-5 years.90+ 2007 Dashe Louvau Vineyard Old Vines Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley) $32
99% Zinfandel, 1% Petite Sirah 14.8%alc
Overall: Deeper garnet than the last. Rich Zinberry fruit and spicy briar. Classic Dry Creek Valley. More hedonistic and ripe than the last, but still shows excellent balance and structure. This and the one above should improve in the next 5 years.Final Thoughts: The two Dashe Zins above, along with their regular DCV Zin and their late harvest Zin, which I've tasted in the recent past, all show a family resemblance with elegance and balance. The single vineyard Zins above also have extra structure for aging. These drink a lot like Ridge Zinfandels (Paul Draper style). Not surprising, since the winemaker here worked under Draper at Ridge. The wines under their Les Enfants Terribles label are made "in a more Old World style" by their own description. The Grenache did, in fact, taste very Southern Rhone in style along with the Vin Gris (not sure why this isn't under the same label). They seem to be trying to make French style wines under this label, similar to Michel Schlumberger (visited on Day 3), but these are not yet as successful as the Schlumberger wines. I really like what their doing with their Zins though. The Riesling was impressive too. A winery to watch. Their Web Communications Manager, Erin Barrett, who also served us, was very knowledgeable and friendly. Thanks Erin!
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