Dashe Cellars Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley Late Harvest 2009

Deep and dark with bittersweet chocolate shavings a touch of prune, rum raisin, blackberry, pencil eraser, noticeably alcohol too. With air this turns downright concord grapy jelly and smells like breakfast! Silky and refined with great purity of fruit. There are layers of bright brambly blackberry fruit, spice, vanilla, red earth, a touch of spinach, hot iron, watermelon ring, lovely and delicious. This also feels great with precise balance and harmony. Nothing is obvious yet the wine remains nervous and tense in the mouth. Delicious. With a touch of wood spice on the finish. 91pts

This has a very fine nose, real brambly blackberry and black cherry fruit with a touch of plum and licorice, a bit meaty with a nice savory hoisin note tightly wound up in the fruit. This is a big wine on entry with lots of glycerin and richness but almost immediately it gains snap and focus. The tannins here are abundant but quite fine and the acidity is floating just under the fruit. The flavors are dark and just a bit dusky with plum, caramel, earth, licorice and a hint of mint all in balance on the mid-palate. The backend offers nice lift to the fruit, which floats off on the long finish. This is spicy on the backend but surprisingly lightweight with black fruit notes and a licorice, leathery savory tone on the finale. A bit of a tight showing but this promises to flesh out and soften a bit with time in the bottle, remaining elegant but gaining breadth in the mouth. I can see this working well with pork in chipotle sauce. 90pts

Smoky and with a hint of obvious oak on the nose this has a touch of obvious alcohol as well. The black raspberry fruit if incredibly intense with a jammy edge and layers of toast, butter, and allspice/cinnamon spice that makes this smell like breakfast. Richly fruited in the mouth with that same pure, jammy black raspberry/ black berry fruit that is accented with notes of honey, vanilla, and baking spices. Big and plush with a flannelly soft feel this is engaging and made in a style that should appeal to most palates. 93pts

A bit woody at first with a sweet/sour tone and some meaty almost gamy notes. There are light smoke tones with a suggestion of green herb and a touch of quinine and bitter citrus peel adding complexity to the pretty, lightly spicy, peppery fruits. Very well balanced with bright acids and nice fleshy mouthfeel that gains intensity on the back end. Lots of pure brambly fruit here with a touch of plum and nice mocha tones helping to frame the fruit. A lot of wine and very freshly fruited with real depth and a lot of nuance on the mid-palate. Finishes with strong, slightly creamy raspberry fruit. Nice length. Really nice wine. 91pts

This has a bit of fuminess to at first and needs time to gain some focus but it reveals dark chocolate streaked, pepper laced dark berry fruit touched with sapwood and smoky, loamy earth. It’s surprisingly light on the palate with more than a bit of tannin to lose but wonderfully refreshing and pure slightly spicy, briary black raspberry fruit that offers up hints of orange oil and backing spice on the backend. The finish allows the tannins to creep back up, giving this excellent follow through with the toasty, vanilla of the oak being covered with cool, wild red berry fruit until the spicy finale. Give this two years to let the tannins soften and drink it over the next five or so, or else grill up some beef and enjoy this for all it offers today. 92pts

This has a huge nose with top notes of violets over deep black plum, slight prune, and spicy hints of chocolate and vanilla with a core of savory elements that recall herbal dried black olives. Lightly sweet on entry this has plenty of acidity to keep the wine lively and lovely ripe tannins that help break up the sweetness. It’s a light, fresh style of dessert wine with a balance akin to fresh fruit making it easy to drink. It’s a bit simpler on the palate than on the nose but is full of briary, tobacco edge plummy and dried berry fruit that yields to a lightly sweet finish balanced by drying tannins. 91pts

eh, nice, round, touch hot. Serve with Bar-B-Q next time. 2008-2010