91 Points - Wine Enthusiast
Gold Medal - TESXOM International Wine Awards
The husband and wife winemaking team of Michael and Anne Dashe founded Dashe cellars in 1996. With experience around the wine world, including at such estates as Lafite-Rothschild, Ridge, and Cloudy Bay (among others), they decided for their own label to focus on Sonoma County Zinfandel. They believe (correctly, in our view) that Sonoma Zinfandel has a rightful place alongside the great wines of the world, and they prove it with each vintage. With a focus on low intervention winemaking and wines that are refined and balanced, they are way ahead of the trend toward lighter wines, especially in the world of Zinfandel where 16% alcohol fruit-bombs led the way in the early 2000s. Make no mistake, this still has all the fruit and richness you would expect from California, but by picking a little earlier Dashe is able to preserve freshness and the result is impeccable balanced wines.
The 2015 Dashe Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel is rich black-purple in color, and beautifully packed with aromas of raspberry, black cherry, blended with floral notes of lavender and violet. One of the most balanced and lovely-textured Dry Creek Zinfandels we’ve had recently. Dark chocolate and black pepper spice underlie the velvety, and full mid-palate leaving you with a long, red-fruit finish.
PRODUCTION
2015 was a vintage marked by extremely small yields, so there was almost half the normal quantity of grapes per vine in this year. The result was a particularly intense wine, but very small quantities compared to our normal production.
The wine was fermented using only the natural yeast population on the grapes at Dashe Cellars and the resulting wine shows off the terroir of the vineyards beautifully. The wine was aged for 10 months in older French oak barrels, including 900-gallon French oak casks that allowed the softness of oak aging without adding excessive oak flavors. 4% of Petite Sirah, for structure and aging potential.
Vintage: 2015
Varietal: 96% Zinfandel; 4% Petite Sirah
Appellation: Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
Cooperage: 20% aged in a 900 gallon French oak "foudre"; 80% 1-year or older French oak
Time in oak: 15 months
Alcohol: 14.3%
Release date: September 1, 2017
Optimum time for consumption: 2017-2030
Gold Medal
Light pink in color with aromas of watermelon, cranberry, orange rind, and fresh spring flowers that leap from the glass. The palate offers more peach, strawberry, and melon, with an intriguing note of rose and hibiscus. It's crisp with just the perfect hint of red fruit, and delicate whisper of strawberry that gives goosebumps.
91 Points
Shimmering ruby-purple hue. The nose is a walk through a damp Sonoma forest—mossy bark and wild earth—brightened by high-toned notes of cranberry sauce and blood orange. On the palate, it's generously long in the mouth, with good concentration. It's a masterclass in tension: intense, cherry and red current fruit meets dark spice and fine, sandy tannins.
96 Point Vintage
Entices with aromas of Bing cherry, raspberry, and cedar spice. Indicative of the cool vintage, the wine carries a freshness throughout. The palate offers a harmonious balance between bright red fruit, spice, and nicely woven tannins.
Gold Medal
Generously packed with black cherry, cola, cassis, and plum that all intermingle together in a creamy, velvety texture with great layering, finishing with delightful notes of oak and spice. Persistent, well-defined structure, wonderfully balanced.
97 Points
Rich dark fruit flavors of blackberry and cherry with notes of baking spices, licorice, coffee, and chocolate that interlace seamlessly with complexity, creating a wine that is both structured and delightfully supple, achieving an ideal balance of tension and grace. Artfully composed of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon with 17% Cabernet Franc, resulting in harmonious depth and freshness.
92 Points
A powerful expression of Cabernet Sauvignon. On the nose, it's enticing and fragrant, bursting with fresh blueberries, blackberry tart, cedar, black olives, and hints of spicebox. Its palate provides big, round chewy tannins, sweet ripe black cherries, blackberry cordial, Bourbon-soaked maraschino cherries, maple roasted walnuts, and a touch of vanilla.
