With ribs Friday night, the fantastic 2010 Dashe Florence Vineyard Dry Creek Zinfandel. This was one of the brightest, most translucent???(can that be a wine descriptor) zinfandels Ihave experienced. Brilliant cherry and zinberry fruit with zingy acidity. Still very primary....I wonder what this wine with bottle age would be like. Alas, I will never know, as the wine is gone from winery stocks.
For comparison sake, i did an "urban cycling adventure" on Sunday that involved a stop in the Warehouse District in Oakland. The 2012 Florence Vineyard was a different animal, much darker in fruit, with savory notes and a strong clove and black pepper element. Still lithe and balanced, but utterly different. Their brand new McFadden Vinyard Les Enfants Terribles Zinfandel was described as a "beaujolais-style" zinfandel, and that was a good description. A lovely quaffable wine! Made with native yeasts!
With dinner Sunday night, we had the quite slurpable Preston Family 2013 Barbera Dry Creek Estate. This was a nice discovery! I don't often like American Barberas-they tend to the sweet and alcoholic in my admittedly limited experience! Not this wine. Very savory overall, with maybe even a touch of funkyness. Definitely some black cherry fruit, and a core of delicious acidity that really complemented the stuffed eggplant dish! It's the savoryness that really soared, though. What a fine little wine!
Afterwards, we sampled the 2010 Campovida (Mendocino County) Terra Rosso, a sangiovese-cabernet blend. Their Heart Arrow Ranch cabernet tends to the softer and simpler side in some years, but the Sangiovese provided a nice core of black licorice and tobacco that saved the wine from simple fruitiness. I like this wine as a very drinkable/slurpable blend.