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DICKERSON VINEYARD, LIMITED RESERVE, NAPA VALLEY WINES:
ZINFANDEL, RUBY CABERNET & MERLOT
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OUR FAMOUS ZINFANDEL
When our Napa Valley Cabernets and Chardonnays bested the same varietal
champions of France in the famous Paris tasting, California wines achieved world wide recognition and acclaim. To the one American varietal, Zinfandel, there is no serious challenger in the world to our
premier California Zinfandels. So you have a ready opportunity to enjoy a wine that is the best in the world and the very best is Dickerson Napa Valley Zinfandel.
Here is why Dickerson Napa Valley Zinfandel is the very
best. I think you will agree.
1. Zinfandel is recognized as the most versatile of wine grapes. It is capable of producing sparkling,
“white”, rose, red, late harvest and port wines of high quality but ultimate quality is only achieved in fine classic Zinfandel table wine; Dickerson Zinfandel.
2. The specific varietal reputed to best display individual characteristics of place is Zinfandel.
Experienced wine lovers have long known that great wines begin in the vineyard but recent focus has been refined to the site specific individuations of wine. That is how an individual terroir is expressed to
first identify the region where the wine was grown and then to differentiate one wine from its neighbors. This individuation or singularity is a reflection of the specific constellation of vines, soil, climate, grape
cultivation and weather unique to a specific site, what the French term terroir. Zinfandel is the most sensitive toward capturing these subtleties of place to best exhibit the elegance and finesse unique to
the premier wine growing area of California and the Napa Valley, Dickerson Vineyard. The even ripening and high acid grapes of our Napa Valley Vineyard terroir define the elegance and finesse of this
superior Dickerson Zinfandel, the best in the world.
3. My love of Dickerson Zinfandel is fortunately shared. Our 1972, the very first Dickerson Vineyard
designate Zinfandel was made by Bob Trinchero at Sutter Home and praised by Darrel Corti as the finest Zinfandel bouquet of experience. Later Robert Parker, Jr. admitted “I thought I was smelling 1959
Mouton Rothschild....amazing but true”. He labeled Dickerson “the Heitz Martha’s Vineyard of Zinfandel”. The Wine Spectator selected the 1990 Dickerson Zinfandel among the 100 Most Exciting
Wines of The World. The Wall Street Journal acclaimed the 1992 “Best Zinfandel tasted in a decade.” Gourmet Magazine’s Gerald Asher placed Dickerson Zinfandels “now among the finest wines -
regardless of variety - produced in California”.
So, why not enjoy the best in the world?
Enjoy Dickerson Zinfandel. You’re worth the best.
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OUR UNIQUE DICKERSON RUBY CABERNET
The only Cabernet native to the U.S.A. is Ruby Cabernet, thanks to U.C. Davis grape geneticist Harold Olmo who combined Cabernet Sauvignon with the most widely cultivated wine grape in France,
Carignane. After years to find the perfect grape, he planted alternating rows, side by side in the Napa Valley, with Cabernet Sauvignon then collected four vintages of wines to be judged by experts in
repeated ‘blind’ tastings.
THE RESULTS WERE ASTOUNDING!
1. SELECTED THE BEST OVERALL QUALITY:
Ruby Cabernet SURPASSED Cabernet Sauvignon!
2. ‘WINES EXHIBITING THE MOST CABERNET SAUVIGNON BOUQUET":
Ruby Cabernet! Greater than even Cabernet Sauvignon itself.
Over 8000 acres of irrigated Ruby Cabernet in the central valleys now produce huge yields but quality
there is compromised by excess heat. In stark contrast, the one and only Ruby Cabernet vineyard in the entire Napa Valley, where quality reigns supreme, is Dickerson Vineyard. Our old vines, nearly 50
years of age, are dry farmed to yield a meager crop of tiny grapes and concentrated flavor to produce the varietal's full potential.
Recent genetic studies at U.C. Davis traced the Cabernet family to the 1600s in France when Cabernet
Franc and Sauvignon Blanc spontaneously joined to create Cabernet Sauvignon. Three centuries later in California, Cabernet Sauvignon fathered Ruby Cabernet. Our LIMITED RESERVE RUBY CABERNET
unites all 3 "blood line" varietals.
This single-vineyard combination of Napa Valley Cabernets naturally creates the fullest expression of Cabernet complexity:
Grandpere Franc contributes velvety richness in taste and body,
Father Sauvignon adds structure and a lingering after taste.
Daughter Ruby Cabernet showcases incomparable Cabernet bouquet,
Perfect for Purists demanding 100% Cabernet varietals and equally
Perfect for Advocates who prefer blended complexity.
Paraphrasing Mark Twain's "Wagner's music is not so bad as it sounds",
"DICKERSON WINES ARE NOT SO EXPENSIVE AS THEY TASTE'
Dr. Harold Olmo, Professor of Viticulture, University of California, Davis and internationally acclaimed
grape geneticist appraised his most respected hybrid, Ruby Cabernet, as follows:
‘The wines of Ruby Cabernet appear as sound as those of Cabernet in every respect. The color of the
wine is more intense in Ruby Cabernet and appears to have good stability. Its hue is often more reddish. The typical Cabernet aroma is recognizable in the young wine, and the bouquet that is so characteristic
of Cabernet Sauvignon develops with aging. Tasters are more likely to recognize the Cabernet characteristics in the new variety than in Cabernet Sauvignon itself.’
‘the opinions of all tasters are in agreement that Ruby Cabernet matures more rapidly.....’
Time has proven the wine ages well.
It is of interest that it was Professor Olmo who saved California Chardonnay. In 1951 he began a 6 to 8
year clonal selection project that increased the yield from an average of 1/2 ton to 6 tons per acre and California vineyard plantings from 100 acres to more than 13,500 in 1980
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OUR MERLOT
Our LIMITED RESERVE MERLOT is a wine well enjoyed by experienced connoisseurs and beginning
tasters alike. I am most pleased with the fruit from these vines planted to take advantage of the new studies and experiments with specific trellising and planting to maximize wine quality. This block
replaces the old Petit Syrah, planted 1910 adjacent to the Zinfandel. For a number of years, I left the soil fallow except for a clover cover crop disked in to replenish the soil. The vines run North-South at 6
feet between vines on a bilateral cordon with fruiting and supporting wires to open the center of the foliage. This prevents shading and allows more even ambient light exposure to avoid the grassy tastes of
shaded canopies. Cultivation is by French hoe plow and disk plus shovel work, never by sprayed chemical herbicides. Basal leaf stripping, again by hand, allows better exchange of air and additional
ambient light penetration. Crop level is thinned on three passes, also of course by hand. This reduced harvest is picked in the cool of morning by hand. So you can see why I am so pleased with grapes that
taste so promising. Even more delighted to find this great Merlot taste carry through fully to the wine, the real test and the true reward for the meticulous attention and hand care throughout the growing season.
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