Saturday, June 7, 2014

Dashe Les Enfants Terribles Zinfandel 2011, Heart Arrow Ranch

I hate reality TV, it is awful and I think that it’s a shining example of how awful this world can be. I actually avoid my parents' place on certain nights because I know I’ll be subjected to that sort of crap if I’m there. The times that I can’t avoid it though I bring wine and Dashe Les Enfants Terribles Zinfandel is what I had this past Monday when I knew the Bachelorette was unavoidable and it was perfect for the occasion. I hadn’t had a Zinfandel in quite some time and this one made me regret that. It also made me rethink my meh-ness towards wine from California.

From the back label:
“Our Les Enfants Terribles (“the Wild Children”) series of wines are made from vineyards that we feel can make distinctive, terrior-driven wines. Fermented on native yeasts, with minimal oak influence and low levels of sulfites, these wines show beautiful fruit undisturbed by unnecessary processing. The essence of the vineyard shines through the resulting wine. This rebel has a cause – we hope you’ll like it.”



It was a really subtle wine for its type, just 13.5% which is pretty restrained for a Californian Zinfandel. I haven’t had many old world Zins, but this wine reminded me more of the few that I’ve had than any of the Californian ones. I’m not trying to bash California here, I do enjoy many wines from there (and all over North America), I just don’t think that they exhibit the same balance and finesse that old world wines do (I could really go off on a tangent there, but I’m going to stop myself because that’s not what this post is about).  There was a distinct earthiness along with the wild strawberry, baked raspberry and dried lavender notes. A hint of spice and round tannins led to a long-ish finish, overall it was really gorgeous.



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