Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Wine Wine Wednesday: What Would You Say to ... Wine from Dave Matthews?
Posted by Chris Chamberlain on Wed, Feb 8, 2012 at 8:15 AM
OK, it's not as simple as that, but then again neither is making wine. Fortunately Matthews has allied himself with Steve Reeder, a legendary Sonoma Valley winemaker and the mastermind behind Simi Winery. With experience at Kendall Jackson and Chateau St. Jean, Reeder is known for making some truly exceptional wines.
Together Reeder and Matthews have formed Dreaming Tree Wines where they produce a Caberbnet Sauvignon, a Chardonnay and a red blend that they call Crush. Affordably priced in the $15-$20 a bottle range, all three varieties are pleasant table wines that exhibit a depth of character unexpected from a new "celebrity wine." Plus, a portion of all sales goes to support the efforts of the Century Council against drunken driving and underage drinking, but you can feel good, if not a bit hypocritical, while you're drinking.
The Central Coast Chardonnay is very light and buttery and paired very well with food. In fact, the very oakey finish was nicely tempered by the buttery salmon dish I served it with. The North Coast Cabernet is actually an 80/20 Cab/Merlot blend, and you can really taste the cherry notes that the Merlot adds. Light-bodied and approachable, this wine still has enough tannic backbone to make it interesting. I suppose I should make some snarky comment about the deep undertones of Matthews' lyrics being masked by his lightweight melodies, but I'll save that for the Cream boys.
My particular favorite was the Crush, a blend of several of Matthews and Reeder's favorite varietals. The result is a smoky raspberry bomb that is very accessible and great with or without food.
With a lot of the dark berry flavors of Zinfandel on the front end, Crush mellows into a very interesting smoky finish, and it opens up nicely if allowed some time to rest. We drank it too fast to let it finish opening, but next time I'll buy two bottles.
A series of videos offers some behind-the-scenes views of the winemaking process, including the development of the blends used in Crush. It's pretty much what you'd expect with Matthews and Reeder sitting around a picnic table drinking some options. Reeder offers his experience and insights while Matthews contributes comments like "Ooh, I like that!' and "I REALLY like that. It was so good I forgot to spit." It's actually kind of cool to see an amateur enthusiast get to live out the dream of creation.
As you would expect in a Matthews venture, everything about Dreaming Tree is environmentally crunchy. From sustainably-grown corks to 100 percent recycled paper labels to recycled glass bottles that are a quarter-pound lighter than usual to cut down on transportation costs and greenhouse emissions, Dreaming Tree keeps the environment in mind during every aspect of production. But the most important part of the process is the actual cultivation of the grapes, and Matthews and Reeder make no sacrifices on that end.
Try a bottle of Dreaming Tree and let us know what you think.
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