Pete Perry from Dana Estates hosted a small dinner at Ria this week. Really nice treat to be able to compare the three Dana wines side-by-side. The Ria staff were really great including Dan Pilkey, the somm, and Brian O’Connor, the GM. Fun guys who are way into it. We warmed up with some NV Krug, Ludwig Neumayer Riesling and Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet.
All of the Dana wines were double decanted about 3-1/2 hours before tasting.
2005 Dana Estates Helms - Their Rutherford estate fruit from the former Livingston-Moffett site. Red and black fruit with great micro density. Under currant of bitter chocolate overlayed by red fruit. Still tight for first hour. A fantastic floral red nose perfumed out after about an hour in the glass.
2007 Dana Estates Hershey - 1800’ elevation Howell Mountain fruit. Black dense with south american chocolate (good play on “hershey”) and huge flavor! Needed air and age, but what a treat. Medium body but intense with great structure. The whole group’s “wow” wine of the night. Insanely small production. 1-2 barrels in 2009 I think.
2008 Dana Estates Lotus - 1200’ elevation just below Howell Mountain. Similar and almost as intense as the Hershey but adds a red/black currant sweetness (very mild layer, not actually sweet) and blended complexity. Soft edges add plushness.
Thanks again to Pete.