Yesterday, with temperatures in excess of 90° F here (good thing it's not yet summer!) we decided to BBQ some ribs for dinner. With the ribs, sautéed kale and rolls, Jean wanted a Zinfandel. I decided to throw a curve ball and opened:
2010 Dashe Cellars Zinfandel "L'Enfant Terrible" McFadden Farm nose: initially, somewhat reductive, red fruit, graphite, pepper palate: juicy, medium body, decent acidity
This is one of the few instances where my own perception of the wine and Jean's were at odds. After tasting this, she declared that she didn't care for the wine at all, so I switched her to an opened bottle of Syrah. When pressed, she decided that it was an offputting element to the nose (perhaps her greater sensitivity to reductive smells?) so we'll see if the half bottle I retained improves any after a day or two. For my own part, I didn't find it as compelling a wine as the '09 but still a very worthwhile Zinfandel.
Back story: this cuvée is Mike Dashe's attempt to rein in the excessive alcohol and extraction of Zifandel. He picks less ripe fruit, does a wild yeast ferment and treats it with minimal SO2. The result is certainly outside of the norm for Zinfandel.
Mark Lipton