Bottling. It’s a word that strikes fear in the heart of most self-respecting winemakers. All winemakers know that the best outcome to any bottling is for nothing eventful to happen. The worst is that a wine you’ve been tending like a baby for the past 6 to 24 months is destroyed in a blink of an eye.
We just finished a big bottling in April, where we bottled a bunch of summer wines— including the Vin Gris, the Dry Riesling, and the Dry Creek Grenache “Les Enfants Terribles”—and as always, I prayed to the winemaking gods to make sure that … Read more
January is always a rocking month, both because we’re preparing to bottle wines that have been sitting in barrel for 14 months, and because it’s the month of ZAP—the biggest and most raucous wine-tasting event in the country.
ZAP is like conducting a professional wine tasting during a Grateful Dead concert. It’s a huge meeting of professional journalists, sommeliers, wine retailers, and zinfandel consumers—all trying to taste and talk at the same time. Hundreds of wineries. Thousands of tasters.
Our table, at Dashe, is always swamped. From 10 am to 5 pm, there wasn’t a break. Journalists, consumers, other winemakers, … Read more
Looking for something to do with the last of that Thanksgiving bird? Why not ground it up and go out in style!
This turkey meatloaf is a recipe from our very own Sally Gordon, former owner of Gordon’s Cafe & Wine Bar in Yountville, and is the ultimate in winter comforts foods. You may like to wash this down with a little of our 2010 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel or possibly even the 2011 McFadden Farm Zinfandel
| Saturday Night Turkey Meatloaf |
It was the kind of vintage that only happens one or two times each decade: unusually high quantities of grapes and unusually high quality of grapes. Think of 1991, 1997, 2001, or 2007 for previous vintages like this. We probably crushed 30% more grapes than usual and all the wine produced was of superb quality. If we had wanted to crush more, there were plenty of
I left early this morning with my dog Dakota on a trek (or pilgrimage) to the Olney ranch, 12 miles up Skaggs Springs Road in the extreme north-west of the Dry Creek Valley appellation. It takes forever to drive to the ranch, which is up one of the most curvy, seemingly endless roads in Dry Creek–just one ridge over from Rockpile, and about the same elevation.
The vineyard looks like one of those incredibly steep vineyards in Germany or Portugal, clinging on to the side of the mountain, with terraced rows that take forever to sample. Great rocky soil, high … Read more
Hi Everyone,
I’ve been out on the road non-stop the last week or so, taking samples and tasting grapes as fast as I can.
I can hardly remember a year with such great ripening weather, or so many vineyards with such a perfect crop of grapes. Really reminds me of years like 1991, 1997, 2001, etc. for years with large crops of wonderful fruit.
The weather is beautifully warm and we hope it will stay just like this, not too hot, not too cold.
The grapes are moving steadily to ripeness–in fact, I tasted the Todd Brothers Ranch fruit on … Read more
This is another classic recipe that is great this time of year because of all the fresh ingredients available. It is great for crowds and can be done the day before and re-heated with no problem. And yes, we think Zinfandel is the perfect match. This dish looks for deep earthy flavors that are also velvety enough to be mouthwatering with the béchamel. Try the 2009 Dashe Cellars Todd Brothers Ranch Old Vines Zinfandel and let us know what you think.
Moussaka is a casserole made by layering eggplant with a spiced meat filling then topping it off with a
Most people normally wouldn’t consider having a red wine with seafood, but we have a beautiful, lighter style Grenache which shows both sweet red fruit and an appealing spice, wrapped in a rich, velvety texture.
The 2011 Dashe Cellars Les Enfant Terrible Grenache is our first choice, however, if you fancy something chilled you should try our 2011 Vin Gris, which is a lovely rosé of Grenache, Petit Sirah and Zinfandel. Either way you go, both wines should
It is so easy to marinate, while the coals are getting to that right temperature, and cooks beforeyou have had your second glass of wine. We have Errin Leach, our own resident Australian lamb expert, to thank for reminding us of this wonder meat and how great it is on the grill. Try this dish with a nice glass of 2009 Florence Vineyard Zinfandel.
Well, it’s time to fire up the old blog, after almost a year’s hiatus after our lovely and talented bloggerette Erin Barrett left for new pastures last year. Now it’s my turn, as winemaker, to put up some thoughts now and again. Our tasting room staff members will also be helping out and chiming in regularly, just to keep things interesting. We will definitely stay in touch more frequently now that we’re back up and running.
We are writing this, of course, here in Oakland—the heart of urban winemaking. It may seem as though we would be taking a little … Read more
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