Morning of Zin Tasting in Dry Creek Valley

Dry Creek Valley
Tasted Saturday, August 6, 2005 by rourkem with 1,550 views

Introduction

Jen was in Philly for the weekend, so Jimmy and I headed out for a day of wine tasting. First stop was a morning of mostly Zin tasting in Sonoma's Dry Creek Valley. We met up in the city, moved the cooler (for bringing back wine, it was a 100F day) to my car, and drove up to Healdsburg.

Flight 1 - Rosenblum Tasting Room in Healdsburg (7 Notes)

The Rosenblum tasting room is nothing special. It's not too different in layout or form from the Ridge tasting room, but the folks at Ridge were alot friendlier when we went up there. Maybe it was just early on a Saturday morning. Overall, I was underwhelmed by the Rosenblum wines. They were all good, but nothing was really great. The Annette's was my favorite. Jen tried it at Family Winemakers and also liked it.

Flight 2 - A. Rafanelli Tasting Room (3 Notes)

The land this winery / tasting room is on is awesome. Great rustic winery in the Dry Creek hills, with steeply terraced vineyards all around it. The tasting room is the same as their barrel room, and is very nice. I really liked the Zinfandel -- this was my favorite of the morning. Picnic table too -- this would be a great spot to stop and have lunch.

  • 2003 A. Rafanelli Zinfandel 92 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley

    Dark fruit on the nose, dark fruit on the palate, good acid, tannin, nothing too strong. Very balanced. A little sweet on the finish. A touch of spice / pepper on the finish as well. Complex and smooth. Would definately buy at this price point.

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  • 2002 A. Rafanelli Merlot Dry Creek Valley

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley

    Green, vegetal nose. Very thick, extracted, black fruits and herbaceous, green notes. no like. Better than the average merlot, though, but not to my liking. No noticable oak.

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  • 2002 A. Rafanelli Cabernet Sauvignon 89 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley

    Good. Black fruit nose, vanilla. Good, balanced cab. Best I've seen at this price point. A little green / herbacious, but dark fruit, tons of acid, tannin, vanilla. Red fruit. Nothing out of balance. Not super comples. Longish. After another sip I thought it might be a but too green for me.

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Flight 3 - Dry Creek Tasting Room (4 Notes)

Completely different atmosphere. More commercial. More corporate. Far less specialization -- these folks make a whole slew of wines. We were a bit disapointed, but Jimmy picked up a bottle of the Zinfandel Grappa. I'm curious to see what that's like.

Flight 4 - Family Wineries of Dry Creek Valley (1 Note)

We only tasted the Dasche offerines here, and I only took notes on the Zin. I remember the Merlot being interesting and really, REALLY tannic. The tasting room is shared by six or so wineries and was being run by someone who claimed to know more about the wines than he actually knew. For example, he insisted that I did *not* buy the 2004 Dashe Late Harvest at Whole Foods, because it hasn't been released yet. Uh huh.

I'm looking forward to Dashe openning a tasting room of their own. After trying more of their Zins at the Family Winemaker's even in SF, I'm very interested in the wines these guys are producing. I already ordered a bunch of the current Zins.

  • 2002 Dashe Cellars Zinfandel Old Vines Louvau Vineyard 91 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley

    Dark, dark fruit. High tannin and acid, kept in check by the huge fruit. Really huge fruit. Not totally smooth, but a good, extracted wine. This was a little bigger than the Raf Zin, but not as smooth. I'd *just* give the nod to the Raf.

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