TNs: 2006 Denner - "The Ditchdigger" (Paso Robles, CA)

WINE TALK
1
  • 2006 Denner “The Ditch Digger” - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles (7/28/2009)
    – popped and poured –
    – tasted non-blind over 1.5 hours –
    – 37% Grenache, 28% Syrah, 26% Mourvedre, 9% Cinsault –

NOSE: a bit smoky, with red fruits (strawberry and raspberry) and spices; hints of oak and black cherries.

BODY: lots of fine particulate matter suspended in the wine; color is of medium-deep depth; medium bodied.

TASTE: before I even notice the flavors of this wine, I am immediately aware of how well-balanced this is – tannins provide nice grip on the long finish, and good acidity provides perfect balance; nice earth/fruit combo: underbrushy front palate, sweet/fruity mid-palate, and a mixture of the two on the back; a touch of cigar is in there too; tannins and a hint of alcohol come through on the finish; alc. is labelled at 15.4%. More than anything else, this strikes me as a very well-balanced CARhone blend … by no stretch of the imagination would this ever be confused with a CdP, but this has much more elegance than I typically find in the CARhones that I drink. This wine tends to get lost in a lineup of Denner offerings, as it’s clearly the most elegant/restrained bottling of the bunch and the big/bold aromas and flavors of Denner’s other bottlings are more demanding of your attention. This showed better on its own … but it won’t win any blind tastings.

B: 50, 5, 12, 17, 7 = (91 pts.)

NOSE: baking spices; light raspberry aromas; nice chalky minerality; not very expressive (perhaps because of the outdoors tasting?)

BODY: purple-ruby color of medium depth; medium bodied

TASTE: perfumy, featuring aromas of violets and raspberry; tannic – needs time. I wasn’t as impressed with this wine as I have been in the past … very solid, seemed to lack pizzaz, however.

B: 50, 5, 11, 16, 8 = (90 pts.)

Nice nose of coffee and hazelnut intermingled with raspberry. Purple-garnet color of medium-deep depth. Crushed violets, spices, and raspberry on the palate. Long finish. Always a solid wine.

Posted from CellarTracker

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Can’t say my experience with the 2005 was as positive. `Balance’ was not one of the terms that I would have used for that wine. Glad you had a good experience with the 2006.

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Jim,
I think your palate and my palate are in disagreement about what constitutes “balance.” If you didn’t like the '05, you will not like the '06 … they’re quite similar … otoh, I haven’t had the '05 in over a year, so fwiw …

4

Is this the one we had at the OC Poker event? I remember it being fairly ripe but not all that expressive or interesting. Balanced wouldn’t be the first thing in my mind either. The Mouvedre bottling next to it was a significant step up for me.

5

CW… last time I know you had it was when I brought it to Cal Poly Baja dinner recently…

6

Brian had one at our poker event also. Just don’t remember the vintages on either and I didn’t take notes at Cal Poly or Poker.

7

Cris,
That was The Dirt Worshiper which is mostly Syrah with a little viognier that was at the poker event.

8

correct.