As some of you may know, I have been quite partial to
California Wines – however, I am especially partial to the Del Dotto family and
their wines…also out of California. Why?? The only way I can answer that is
with 2 words…Silk. Juice.
The Del Dotto tasting rooms, located in Napa Valley and also
has a location in St. Helena have proven
with no doubt, that they know what they know how to make good wine. There wine is not distributed, so you won’t
find it on a shelf at QFC, Safeway or even at Wine World – BUT! If you’d like
to find truth in my words – go to the tasting rooms yourself, do some barrel tasting and you’ll
see exactly what I’m talking about.
We did a side-by-side tasting the other night of two, 2008
100% Cabernet’s. They were both grown in
the St. Helena Appellations of the Napa
Valley, one grown on the western side of the St. Helena Appellations and the
other grown in south side of the St. Helena Appellations. The difference?? You wouldn’t think it’d be much, but – Wow! Very distinctive in their own flavors.
The blue label, from the south side in Appellation 887, had
much bigger flavors and was quite bold. There were deep flavors of plum and
subtle blueberry on the front of the palate, but finished with somewhat of a
smoky wood and tannins that settles so very nicely. To me, this was a simpler
wine with amazing flavor, and was very good with a nice Filet Mignon - perfect balance.
The gold label, from the west side of the Appellation, was
also a big wine but had several flavors going on and settled as a light wine. The flavors I got from this wine were
cherries, BIG vanilla and oak on the front of the palate. Through-out the taste, the vanilla and
cherries softened just perfectly with a little spice on the back of the palate
with a long finish. I tried this wine with
some halibut cheeks from the grill and yes, again - perfect balance.
One of the things that I find really interesting about Del
Dotto wine-making, is how each barrel is chosen and toasted. Most of their
wines are stored in their barrels only once and toasted to perfection – it makes
their wines so different from many that I have tried, and out of all the ones I’ve tried, I haven’t
come across one I haven’t liked.
If you get to Napa, I would strongly suggest visiting their
tasting rooms…and bring a driver. J
Cheers!
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