Dover Canyon Winery

There is simply no other vineyard like Benito Dusi’s. These are rugged, gnarly eighty-year-old vines that haven’t had a drop to drink since the last time Mother Nature wept. Seriously hardy old souls, these vines, located west of the Salinas River in the wind-blasted Templeton region of Paso Robles. And they produce Zin with soul unlike any other. Dan and Mary from Dover Canyon are indeed most fortunate to have a contract for this rarified, extremely low-yield fruit.

This wine was made with a Rhone yeast and aged for 16 months in American oak. You can smell the absolutely pure Zin-ness of this wonderful wine from the first whiff. It’s dusty earth, raspberries, smoky sage and pink peppercorns in the nose, and raspberries, blackberries, a touch of basil and cherry tomatoes on the palate. This is not a big jam bomb, but instead a delightful medley of herbs, earth, berries, sweet tobacco and pure Zin gusto. It finishes like classic old vine Zin: you get the sensation of chewing on a dried cherry tart. This is indeed the very soul of Zin. It is firm, unwavering and unrelenting, like the gaze of an old farmer. Yep, it’s a Dusi. Like that farmer’s handshake, it will grip you with its lean, weather beaten and gnarled strength. If you worship at the feet of old vine Zin, you must pay a visit to this shrine.

Reviewed August 9, 2007 by Laura Ness.