History

Dashe Cellars has been making Zinfandel from the Louvau Vineyard since 2001, and we’ve long felt that this vineyard on the eastern bench of the Dry Creek Valley was one of the best in the valley. The sloped, well-drained, rocky soil is ideal for growing Zinfandel, and the cool nights and early morning fog that flows up from the Russian River Valley help the grapes maintain good acidity and balance. The wine’s complexity and depth make it a perfect wine to go into a magnum, since the wine can easily age in the cellar for many years. 

Production

As always, we sorted the grapes before crushing and allowed the wine to ferment on its native yeast. After pressing, the wine was racked into French oak barrels, and aged for 18 months in the cellar. To make this Barrel Select wine, we individually tasted each barrel and selected only the best: the wines that showed in barrel as unusually complex and intense. In blending, we also added 4% Petite Sirah for additional color, spice, and intensity. Since the wine had great structure and substantial tannins, we decided to bottle it in magnums, which allows the wine to mature slowly over time. This is a great wine to age in your cellar and then bring to parties to share—it never fails to impress with the size of the bottle and the complexity of the wine.  

Production: 130 cases

Tasting Notes