WTN: Some DoverCanyon Wines...(long/boring/silly)

We tasted last week (11/26/08) some DoverCanyon Wines:
1. DoverCanyonWnry WhiteBone PasoRobles (15.2%; 60% Viog/25% Marssanne/ 15% Roussanne;
TempletonGap; BrrlFrmtd, 6 mo. sur lies; 5 brls; http://www.DoverCanyon.com) 2007: Med.light gold
color; strong very ripe/Viog/peachy/floral/honeysuckle perfumed bit spicy/nutmeg lovely nose;
rather sweet (2%-3%?) very ripe/floral/honeysuckle/fruit cocktail very ripe/peachy/Viog
rather soft/fat flavor; long sweet very ripe/floral/honeysuckle/peachy/Viog finish; speaks more
of Viognier than #2 does; a beautiful nose but the RS on the palate is a surprise; interesting
Rhone white if you can get beyond the sweet. $26.00
_________________________
2. DoverCanyonWnry Viognier PasoRobles (14.7%; TempletonGap & ElPomar; BrlFrmtd;
6 mo. sur lies; 6 brls) 2006: Med.gold color; strong pear/Viog light earthy/minerally elegant/
fragrant nose; tart elegant candied/pear/Viog light minerally attractive flavor; med.long pear/
Viog/minerally finish; a lovely elegant/restrained Viognier that flits across the palate
like Maya Plisetskaya, rather than slashes across like Madonna in stiletto boots. Very
attractive price at $22.00
_________________________
3. DoverCanyonWnry Zin PasoRobles Cujo (15.7%; 12 mo. aged sur lies/AmOak) 2007: Med.
color; strong very spicy/bright/Zinberry/raspberry light vanilla/oak lovely/fragrant
nose; soft very bright/zippy/Zinberry/raspberry very spicy/perfumed light vanilla/oak
bit tannic flavor; long bright/Zinberry/raspberry/framboise light vanilla/oak finish
w/ light tannins; needs a few months yet and should go out 3-4 yrs; loads of bright
Zinberry fruit that belies the 15.7%; no overripe or raisened character at all; rather
in the DougNalle style; terrific Zin for the price. Not yet released. $19.00
_________________________
4. DoverCanyonWnry OldVine Zin BenitoDusiVnyd/PasoRobles (15.9%; 90 yr old vines;
16 mo. sur lies/AmOak; 12 brls) 2006: Med.dark color; very ripe/blackberry/Zin bit alcoholic/
fumey quite spicy some dusty/old vines fairly rich/lush nose; rich some earthy/dusty/old
vines strong blackberry/boysenberry/Zin some vanilla/oak rather lush/spicy flavor; long
rich/lush/blackberry/boysenberry/Zin/ripe finish w/ some tannins; not at all overripe or
jammy; a more elegant version than the Ridge Dusi. $27.00
_________________________
5. DoverCanyonWnry Reserve Zin PasoRobles (15.2%; 16 mo. sur lies/neutral AmOak;
4 brls) 2006: Dark color; very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Zin some Am.oak/toasty/vanilla
very spicy/perfumed bit dusty/old vines nose; soft ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Zin bit earthy
some vanilla/toasty/oak very spicy/perfumed flavor; very long/lingering soft ripe/blackberry/
boysenberry/Zin very spicy bit peppery slight vanilla/toasty/oak some complex finish w/ some
tannins; still needs several yrs; much like the Dusi but a bit more oak, more spice, more
complexity; lovely very spicy Zin w/ no overripe character & very/very spicy. $38.00
_________________________
6. DoverCanyonWnry TreNoce PasoRobles (15.8%; 66% Zin, 34% Syrah; EstateVnyd; 6 brls) 2006: Dark
color; lovely blackberry/boysenberry/licorice some peppery/Syrah/blackberry some vanilla/oak
bit alcoholic some complex interesting nose; tart bright/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah very spicy
some peppery bit vanilla/oak flavor; very long bit tannic/hard strong/blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry
somewhat spicy/licorice peppery finish; needs 2-4 yrs; lots of blackberry/Syrah character w/ a bit
of perfumed/spicy from the Zin; very attractive wine. $36.00
_________________________
7. DoverCanyonWnry Barbarian PasoRobles (15.0%; 60% Zin, 40% PS; 18 mo. sur lies/neutral
FrOak; 6 brls) 2006: Dark color; strong coffee/peppery/blackberry/plummy/boysenberry quite spicy
bit smokey/complex mostly PS nose; soft rich/lush/plummy/licorice/blackberry bit tight/closed/
clunky slight coffee/smokey rather tannic flavor; med.long rather tannic bit clunky/oafish strong
licorice/plummy/blackberry slight coffee/smokey finish; needs 2-6 yrs; speaks mostly of the PS;
a bit on the oafish side, maybe even a bit of a...Barbarian. Great price at $24.00
_________________________
8. DoverCanyonWnry BoneLore PasoRobles (68% Grenache/16% Syrah/16% PS; 15.2%;
18 mo. sur lies/neutral FrOak; U/U; 6 brls) 2006: Med.dark color; lovely fragrant/strawberry/
Grenache bit herbal/rosemarry very perfumed/fragrant/aromatic nose; soft very bright/strawberry/
alpine strawberry/Grenache light toasty/oak very aromatic/perfumed flavor; med.long bright
strawberry/alpine strawberry/Grenache light toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; a very pretty/
drinkable very fragrant Grenache; like hiking in the mountains w/ your dog and you lie down in this
bed of alpine strawberries to take in the majestic vistas, your pup resting his snout on your chest,
slobber running down onto your shirt, and you can hear way in the background JuliesAndrew's lilting
voice..."the hills are alive....."; life don't get no better. $28.00
_________________________
9. DoverCanyonWnry Syrah Jimmy'sVnyd/PasoRobles (16.4%; TempletonGap;
16 mo. sur lies/new FrOak; 6 brls) 2006: Black color; big Fr.oak/toasty/spicy strong blackberry/
Syrah slight peppery/coffee/mocha aromatic/complex nose; very toasty/pungent/smokey/Fr.oak strong
blackberry/Syrah bit herbal/peppery flavor; med.long strong blackberry/Syrah light peppery/spicy/
herbal rather toasty/Fr.oak/coffee/smokey finish w/ some tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; lots of smokey/
pungent character w/ lots of blackberry/Syrah fruit; great structure & balance; beats the socks of
many $50+ NapaVlly Syrahs. Vety fairly priced at $32.00
___________________________________________________________________________
And a bit of a BloodyPulpit:
1. DoverCanyon: I've been such a slacker over the yrs in keeping up w/ DoverCanyon. I go way back
w/ DanPanico when he was the winemaker at Eberle. In fact, I think Dan was the last winemaker at
Eberle to make really exciting wines there, back when they were moving into the Rhone program
pretty heavily. I've known MaryBaker almost as long, back when she was involved w/ the group
of tasting room folks who hung out together & took tours. When I'm at HdR, I seldom have any slack
time to visit any of the Paso tasting rooms, so DoverCanyon has been getting short shrift from
TomHill over the yrs. I decided it was time to remedy that and ordered an assorted case of Dover
Canyon wines several months ago to get caught up w/ old...errrr...long-time friends.
My people really liked the wines, accross the board, save the WhiteBone. As a white Rhone blend,
we were expecting a rather dry/austere style of wine. So it came as a bit of a shock when it hit
the palate w/ the noticible RS. Actually, in the context of a German or Austrian Riesling, the
wine is really a lovely wine, w/ lots of perfume & aromatics. I think the label should have given
a head's up on the RS.
All of the wines were above the 15% level. We were expecting pretty big/alcoholic/overripe/jammy
kind of wines. They were not. I was struck w/ the rather restrained style the wines displayed. There
were a couple where you could get the alcohol, but, by and large, they showed a sense of balance
and elegance and structure that belied their alcohol level. Kinda like watching Shaq O'Neil dance
in SwanLake ballet... he has the physical skills that he could probably dance it well, just that he'd
look a bit funny in a tutu.
In particular, the Cujo and the Barbarian were big hits because they're very attractively priced.
Tom

Hello Tom,

Very interesting and informative notes - thanks! Makes me want to get my hands on some. They sound to be in a similar vein to Rosenblum (which I more or less like, although not without caveats), but better made and not as overdone (and perhaps with better balance?) - how would you compare the two?

And BTW, perhaps long, but definitely not boring! [And I don't even know where you get the 'silly' part.]

. They sound to be in a similar vein to Rosenblum (which I more or less like, although not without caveats), but better made and not as overdone (and perhaps with better balance?) - how would you compare the two?

Thanks, Ryan.
Though the alcohol levels in (these '06) DC's are Rosenblum levels, I think they have a bit more structure & balance (even at 15%+) than the Rosenblums. And they stand heads&shoulders over the Rosenblum Paso Zins. The '07 DC's are a bit more restrained & lower in alcohol.
Tom

Thanks, Tom! That's quite a compliment. Dan's style is much more restrained and 'classic zin' than most Paso producers. '06 was a rainy spring and cool summer vintage so we had to wait longer for the pH levels to rise to acceptable levels, resulting in higher Brix than we typically like. '07 will be a return to our usual style, although our syrahs and zins do typically run 14.6% to 15.5% anyway ...