2015 The Dodd $55
48% Petite Verdot, 20% Zinfandel, 16% Tannat, 16% Cab
Klau Mine Vineyard Adelaida District Cellar Life: 15+ years
Each varietal is open top fermented separately. Pressed to 52-gallon American oak barrels, about 30% spanky new. Here they become young wines. In the spring once the wines show themselves and their character, we as a group decide the final blend. The Dodd is then aged in a 660-gallon French oak oval. Here it grows and matures until bottling after 18 months. Time in bottle is wise.
Neil’s Notes: Maple wood smoke lifting out of the glass, redolent of black berries and black cherries, sweet tobacco, pink pepper corn, spruce, potrero. Absolutely mouth filling bursting with the same array of black fruits we perceived on the nose. Interwoven with north African spices, or as John Munch once said, a Moroccan bizarre! This is one of the few wines where we encourage the oak to take a significant role, because let’s be fair, the Tannat likes it, even wants it! Lay your table heavy with game and converse loudly.