Tonight, with a makeshift dinner of (leftover) venison fajitas, I opened:

2007 Dashe Zinfadel Potter Valley "L'Enfant Terrible" ($22)
nose: grapefruit, pencil lead, bright red fruits
palate: medium body, acidity, cherry fruit, pencil lead

When she first tasted this wine, Jean exclmained
"what...a...great...wine" in just those terms, followed by "we've got to
gets lots of this." Her initial enthusiasm died down a bit, but both of
us were quite taken with this very unique expression of Zinfandel.
Coming across like a Beaujolais initially, it had varietal character,
but in a very different package. In certain regards, it reminded me the
most of a barrel sample, but with airing the wine took on extra depth
and rounded out, becoming quite a bit more Zin-like. Interestingly, the
nose had a butterscotch note an hour after opening. I predict that this
wine will evolve in interesting ways over the next few years, and should
reward some cellaring. I will hang onto my one remaining bottle of this
for just that reason.

Mark Lipton
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