Rourke's Random Musings

DASHE AND JC CELLARS OPEN HOUSE - Oakland, CA (5/7/2006)

We went to Dashe and JC Cellars’ open house in Oakland with Jimmy on Sunday afternoon and tasted through some of the Dashe and JC Cellars releases. There were excellent finger foods that all paired well with these big Zins. Jen particularly enjoyed the sausage in puff pastry.

There was live music, food, water, coffee and lots of indoor and outdoor seating. A great little event.

• 2004 Dashe Cellars Zinfandel - USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley
  Best Dry Creek Zin out of Dashe so far. Good, but not great. Tannic. Fruit driven, but in the Ridge style rather than the Turley. Great for the price. (maybe even a 90?) (89 pts.)
• 2003 Dashe Cellars Zinfandel “Old Vines” Louvau Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley
  Just a touch better than the Dry Creek. Brighter, less chocolate and dark fruit driven than the 2002. (89 pts.)
• 2003 Dashe Cellars Zinfandel Todd Brothers Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley
  My favorite Zin of the day. Excellent, structured, all fruit and structure. Not the velvety Turley-like mouthfeel, more the claret style. Good. Excellent for the money. Jimmy’s favorite also. (92 pts.)
• 2003 Dashe Cellars Zinfandel Big River - USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley
  Very close in quality to the Todd Brothers Ranch wine. Jen’s favorite of the day. Had a minty, menthol flavor to it that made your lips tingly, but was not at all out of balance with the rest of the wine. Long finish. Good tannin. Great with the sausage in pasty they were serving. (92 pts.)
• 2003 Dashe Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley
  Not too exciting. Wouldn’t buy. A little green, not as big as the Tood Brothers or Big River Zins.
• 2003 Dashe Cellars Iron Oak Vineyard - USA, California, Potter Valley
  Massive amounts of tannin. Out of balance. Not something I’d buy. Bigger than the Zins and Cab.
• 2004 JC Cellars Syrah a la Cave - USA, California
  Okay. Not too exciting. Wouldn’t buy. Far prefer the Ojai for this price. Less fruity, more earthy, less silky.
• 2004 JC Cellars Zinfandel Arrowhead Mountain - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley
  Not bad. A little lacking in structure compared to the Dashe wines. Weak on tannin, also. Wouldn’t buy. (88 pts.)
• 2003 JC Cellars Syrah Pourquoi Pas Rockpile/Clos de Cuminaille - USA, California, Sonoma County, Rockpile
  I wasn’t a fan of this. Why not, indeed. Apparently half the grapes for this come from France. (88 pts.)
• 2004 JC Cellars Viognier Late Harvest Ripken Vineyard - USA, California, Central Valley, Lodi
  Nice fruit and floral flavors. Very clean and pleasant, but no acidity, so a little sweet. (90 pts.)
• 2005 Dashe Cellars Zinfandel Late Harvest - USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley
  Excellent LH Zin. Not a huge amount of tannin. More acid. Less raisinny flavors and more red fruits, some bright, some dark. Layers of fruit. Long, sweet finish. Very, very good with the chocolates they were serving with this. Will definitely buy some but I’m mildly concerned about longevity. (93 pts.)

All in all, the JC Cellars stuff didn’t excite any of us. We were happy to see that the Dashe stuff was consistently good again this year. In particular, we all loved the Big River and Todd Brothers wines, with Jimmy and I preferring the Todd Brothers and Jen liking the Big River best.

The LH Zin is the most consistent I’ve seen out there, and excellent again this year. Jimmy and I both bought a bunch of these half bottles.

Posted from CellarTracker

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