Dashe

On the eastern side of Mendocino County, the Potter Valley is a high-elevation viticultural area, where hot summer days turn into crisp nights and mornings. Grapes that favor cooler climates develop complex characteristics over a long growing season. Dashe’s Dry Riesling is the product of the McFadden Vineyard, where 30-year-old vines grow on white, chalky soil on a steep hillside - not unlike the Rieslings of Alsace. Because 2021 was a vintage in the middle of an extended drought, conditions were hot and dry throughout northern California. Yet, Dashe Cellars produced a delicate Riesling they describe as  “bone dry with a beautiful characteristic fruit and mineral aroma, a firm structure, lush midpalate, and a dry long fruity finish. With its lovely aromatics and mouthfeel, good acid/fruit balance, and complex minerality, this wine is ideal to drink right now and can also be saved for mid-term aging in the cellar.” Try this excellent white with summer salads, roast pork, sushi, or Thai curry.

Delta Reds is a luscious, vibrant wine, offering tangy fruit (red cherry, raspberry), light tannins and fresh acidity. It’s an intriguing blend of about 50% Carignane, a hefty share of Mourvèdre, Teraldego, and Tannat, and small amounts of Zinfandel, Barbera and Petite Sirah. The fruit was sourced from old vineyards planted in the sandy delta soils in the region where the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers meander toward the San Francisco Bay. Overlooked in recent decades, the delta was once a significant wine region. More recently, the delta is recognized as having a beneficial climate of warm days and cooler nights, and old, neglected vineyards are being revived. Try this wine with appetizers or lighter entrees. 

Dashe Cellars sees Vineyard Select Zinfandel as a great “bistro wine” that can accompany a wide range of dishes and bring pleasure to friends and family around the table. The winery sources fruit from favorite vineyards in three appellations: Dry Creek Valley, Contra Costa County, and Clarksburg. In 2021, the blend is 76% Zinfandel, 15% Teroldego, and 7% Tannat. The latter two are not well known in California. Teroldego is a local favorite around Trentino in Northern Italy, while Tannat is limited to Madiran in South West France (but is well-established in Uruguay). These grapes combine wonderfully with the Zin, adding depth, color, spice, and texture. Each variety was fermented separately on indigenous yeasts, and the wine aged in 100% 1-year-old or older barrels in order to emphasize the natural flavors of the fruit. The wine impresses with bright aromatics, a lush and lively texture, gorgeous pomegranate and black cherry fruit, and bright acidity. Suggested food pairings include Penne with Fennel Sausage & Lemon, Herb Spiced Meatloaf, and Tandori Chicken.

Red wine lovers who won’t accept rosé as a summertime alternative, look no further. The Mendocino Cuvée is a Zin that’s complex and structured yet bright, aromatic and suitable lightly chilled. Inspired by the great “crus" of Beaujolais, this Zin is made via a technique called carbonic maceration, which produces a light ruby-colored wine that’s reduced in alcohol, intriguingly aromatic, fresh and full of flavor. Unlike your typical Zin, it has zip instead of weight, and structure without much tannin, making it a quaffable red for warm summer evenings. The grapes were sourced mainly from the Signal Ridge Vineyard in the Mendocino Ridge AVA, a high-elevation region near the Pacfic Ocean. Indeed, this vineyard is the highest in all Mendocino County, where the vines are bathed in sunlight while being cooled by maritime winds. This climate as well as the rocky soils keep yields down and produce complex and compelling wines.

In 2016, in order to mark 20 years of making Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel, Dashe Cellars decided to craft a special reserve cuvée from select barrels of wine from the most distinctive vineyards they work with. This was a wine that showed off the very best characteristics of the region - the complex spectrum of flavors, and a balance of pure fruit flavors and bright acidity. The result, a complex, lovely, and fruit-forward wine, inspired them to try it again in 2017. Aiming for bright acidity, they harvested early and were able to avoid the wildfires that afflicted the region later on. About 10% Petite Sirah was added to the blend for additional texture and structure. They say it’s one of the most intense and complex Dry Creek Zinfandels they’ve made, “with dark chocolate and black pepper spice underlying the velvety, intense mid-palate and the balanced, sweet red-fruit finish.” 

Like dark Belgian chocolate, Dashe Late Harvest Zin is a seducer of nose and palate - or indeed, mind and body - with its rich, intense flavors of raspberry, blackberry, chocolate and spice. As with all of Dashe Cellars’ wines, it all starts in the vineyard – in this case, the Lily Hill Vineyard in northern Dry Creek Valley. Because the vines struggle to survive in the shallow, rocky soils, they produce just small amounts of concentrated fruit. When the grapes are harvested about a month later than usual, the sugars and sweet fruit flavors are potent yet balanced with beautiful acidity. As a result, this dessert wine is decadently sweet yet focused and crisp. Blue cheese would pair nicely with this late harvest Zin, or try it with cheesecake with berries, fruit tarts, apple pie, or carrot cake. You won't go wrong with chocolate, either.