I've had and reviewed this wine on a number of occasions, but I thought it was worth mentioning again in light of tonight's bottle. The
2008 Dunning Vineyards Vin de Casa, Paso Robles is a blend of 45% Cabernet Franc, 35% Zinfandel and 20% Syrah. Deep cranberry color with a nose of sweet-tart raspberry, wintergreen, hints of licorice and cocoa and a good amount of green tobacco and sage. The Cab France
really asserts itself on the tobacco-laden palate. Looking back at older notes on the blog, it seems as if this wine has traded in its youthful cherry fruit and licorice for more tobacco and herb-driven aromas and flavors. In the 3 years I've been a member of Dunning's wine club, I've only received one bottle of their Private Reserve Cabernet Franc. Obviously, I haven't had this varietal bottling from them yet, but I think I have a pretty good idea now of what to expect from it. really long, chalky, cocoa finish. Priced in the low $20 range, I still like this wine. But I have to admit I liked it better 6 months ago.
Paired with a delicious grilled flank steak with grilled garden-fresh asparagus and cauliflower mash.
And can someone tell me why I have to manually insert page breaks on Blogger now instead of just hitting the enter key? That's really annoying. Anyone else having this issue since Blogger revamped its layout template? I find all the "upgrades" to be pretty annoying. Might have to find a new host site for the blog.....
Bill, would say this wine is a bit young (Less than 3 years) to be fading, or at least not as pleasant as 6 months ago?
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's "fading;" just changing. Shifting from the big fruit of a Dunning Zin or Syrah into more of a traditional, Cabernet Franc-heavy blend.
ReplyDeleteKind of wish I still had an '07 VdC so I could check it at this stage. Still have 2 '08s in the cellar and the '09 should be shipping sometime in the next month or so. So maybe I'll drink a few '09s before checking back on the '08 in a year or so.