Dashe Cellars “Les Enfants Terrible,” Heart Arrow Ranch, Mendocino 2017
The Heart Arrow ranch is one of the finest biodynamic farms in Mendocino County—a completely self-contained ecosystem where not only grapes but vegetables, fruit-trees, pigs, cows, lambs, and chickens all make a self-sustaining microcosm without herbicides or pesticides. The combination of these farming techniques and Dashe Cellars winemaking techniques work to make this an unusual Zinfandel, one that is very different in aroma, flavor, and structure than a classic California Zinfandel, and more like a wine from Burgundy or Beaujolais. How is this wine different? First of all, they don’t crush the grapes but instead use whole clusters and uncrushed destemmed grapes to create a “carbonic maceration” style of wine. They ferment the wine with the native yeasts on the grapes; age the wine in a huge 900 gallon French oak barrel; and bottle the wine with low SO2 levels.
It is extremely aromatic – black cherry, pomegranate, earth, violets, clove, and black pepper. The Dashe Cellars Zinfandel 2017 Les Enfants Terribles, Heart Arrow Ranch, Mendocino shows excellent fruit and mineral aromas, and the wine has an absolutely beautiful texture and depth of flavor. Enjoy the flavors of black cherry, pomegranate, strawberry, black raspberry, chocolate, minerals, and black pepper. Although this wine is beautiful to drink right now, it can improve with age as well, at least 8 years from the vintage date.
$36.00
46 in stock