I was invited over to a friends house on Sunday for some burgers. I opened the wine cellar and thought…what wine goes good with burgers….Ah…a Zinfindel. I pulled out a bottle of 2003 Dover Canyon Zinfandel Reserve. We purchased this wine on our trip to the Central Coast in 2006. We had such a good time at this winery.
This wine was a wonderful compliment to our dinner. The wine had wonderful spice and cherries, followed by flavors of wild berries and black berries. There was a hint of pepper and berry on the finish. This wine had soft tannins. It was awesome!!!
A little on our visit to Dover Canyon…
Dover Canyon got recommended to us by people we were talking to at another winery. We couldn’t have ended our day in a better place with great hospitality.
Dover Canyon is on Vineyard Drive in the northwest quadrant of the Paso Robles appellation. Dan Panico, owner and winemaker of Dover Canyon, has long believed that the northwest-running strip of calcareous soil along Vineyard Drive is optimum for growing Zinfandel and Rhône varieties. Their estate vineyard features head-trained, dry farmed zinfandel and stress-irrigated syrah. They are committed to sustainable farming. There production is focused on small lots of wine, often vineyard designated, from mountainous vineyards in the northwest corner of Paso Robles, centering around the Dover Canyon, Templeton Gap, and Adelaide Hills districts.
Dan is well known for producing wines with a silky, smoke-and-licorice profile, and a focus on vineyard presence. We had the wonderful opportunity to have Mary Baker pouring our tasting. We had such a great time! A perfect ending to our day.