Dreaming Tree Red Crush
I have had Red Crush before at several areas tastings. I’ve always liked it because it was a nice blend that tastes different every year. But I had an ulterior motive in selecting this week. It has a tree on the label. And it didn’t hurt that I’ve always liked what Dave Matthews (yeah, that Dave Matthews) and the vintners at Dreaming Tree do with their wines-in the bottle and with their appreciation of the environment (check their website for all of the sustainability practices they follow).
I wanted a “tree” wine to help promote Trees for Augusta photo contest. The deadline to enter is this week, May 8th. You can enter 2 different categories and in the process help Trees for Augusta in their work with helping restore trees along many roadways. (The promo photo of the old 5×7 camera up against the Crepe Myrtle is mine). I can’t enter the contest because I helped create and manage the registration process. I just wanted to help spread the word and enjoy a little wine in the process.
That said, Red Crush is a little in the vein of the deep dark reds I’ve been collecting recently to compare. I’m going a bit out of order to promote the contest so bear with me. Many vintners have come out with really dense red wines that show a lot of fruit and some really dark flavors. This wine approaches it but some of the others have been showing so much fruit that some would call them sweet.
Mrs. Dan and I opened this one last weekend after a long day working in the yard. We were both exhausted and ready to relax. We had another dark red blend, Cupcake Red Velvet the night before (that review is next) and I like this one better. It has some great fruit but it shows some tannins that tame it a bit. I read their tasting notes and they said this wine spent 16 months on oak before the various varietals were blended (54% Merlot, 20% Zinfandel, 18% Petite Sirah, 8% Other).
So how do they blend? I think it best to just pull a quote from the tasting notes from Steve Reeder and Dave Matthews.
“For Crush, Dave and I hand-selected a special blend of our favorite varieties to create a red wine that pulls you in with notes of smoky berry and a pop of raspberry jam. around the dinner table or out on the patio, it’s a wine you’re going to want to share with your favorite people.”~Steve Reeder on his Dave Matthews wine collaboration.
“I swallowed it before i put the glass down. there wasn’t any opportunity to spit.” – Dave Matthews
Their tasting notes say “A blend of the North Coast’s finest varieties, this wine has some great caramel oak and mixed berry characters on the nose, juicy raspberry flavors, and full-but-soft and approachable tannins.”
I looked at my notes and I had written down “caramel.” That one I got, not on the nose but on the palate. Before I looked at the varietal percentage I would have guessed that the Zin was closer to 40 or 50%. That’s probably where the smokiness comes from. The Petite Syrah improves the mouthfeel giving it a bit of a chewiness. Smooth with a hint of chewiness. Their tasting notes say juicy raspberries but not like the kind I buy at the store. More like the kind I used to find growing wild on the banks of the “Dooley Hole” in Botetourt County, Virginia on a hot summer day.
The clarity isn’t opaque like the other wines I’m trying to compare this one to. Maybe I shouldn’t compare them but with a name like Red Crush I can’t help myself.
We really enjoyed sitting on the back porch just after sunset sipping this wine. At $14 this is over my usual $10 threshold but it was the only “tree” wine I found that I wanted to review.
I consider this review a twofer. One to promote the photo contest and the other sitting with my lovely wife enjoying the end of the day.
Dreaming Tree Website
Author Cheap Bastard