Waiting for Dessert Would be a Sin

Posted 08/14/2008 at 09:32 AM by Dirk

Do you have certain images that come to mind when you think of a particular wine?  If you are into wine, try this:

-Dom Perignon.... Bubbles? Monk Drinking the stars? James Bond?
-Y'Quem...Tsars? One glass per vine?
-White Zinfandel...Sutter Home?
-Chateau Montelena/Stags Leap Wine Cellars...French tasting winners 1976
-Dolce... (It's the best...and no one really knows about it...hmmm) (Makes it sound like a stealth wine...you know where this is going.)

Tell A Secret... Dolce

(Of course, once you tell "it"...It is no longer a secret. Is that a Catch 22 or what?)

Dolce is speaking up. It's about time. I started making it for fun in 1985 and we released the first vintage in 1992. The most common thing I hear about Dolce is, "I don't like sweet wine...but I like Dolce."

It is the classic case of capturing hearts, one sip at a time.

Dolce has a new website. Actually, it's the same site address -  www.dolcewine.com - but it got a makeover. I know you need a flash player....I just don't happen to know what a "flash player" IS! (It doesn't count if you are old enough to remember Flash Gordon, had to change flash bulbs with your camera to take pictures, or knew Bud Clark, Portland's bar owner/ mayor who "flashed" a statue for that timeless poster, "Expose Yourself to Art.")

What images come to mind when you think of your experiences with Dolce? We took some time and tried capturing some of the special moments in the making and in the enjoyment of Dolce. Instead of listing all that is shown (after all, you can, or should, go see it), I can tell you some of the things that weren't included.

Our friends Michael and Christine Aaron (if you don't know Sherry-Lehman wine merchants, you should visit them at www.sherry-lehmann.com) have a cute white dog named...you guessed it, "Dolce" (not pictured). They have always been the most sophisticated New Yorkers...dare I say, Formal?

Dolce in front of the campfire has become a mid-summer tradition for me and some of my friends. (We aren't that photogenic, you can't smell the fire, it was the same old stories, and we drank all of the Dolce.)

There are no pictures of spin-the-bottle. While we have heard the big kids talking during recess, we don't believe it and recommend that wines be kept at cellar temperature and not be subjected to too much vibration. (Spinning = vibration)

Dolce Sno-Cones. Yes, they exist. They are wonderful. They melt too quickly so best to eat up with the traditional red spoon straws. (Too hard to explain and they aren't half as cool in a picture as they are in person.)

Greg timing the press, measuring the density of each press pan of precious juice, losing his hair, late night analysis, staring into the microscope to find struggling yeast, etc. (Pictures hardly seem to do justice to the concentration, experience, craftsmanship, worry and time.) But, you can find him branding a barrel and removing wine from the barrel with a "thief."

Ren Harris at Go Fish deciding which is the ideal accompaniment to Dolce. (I hear from the wait staff that it is a tradition and it is the Crispy Roll. They may name it after him!)

Whether you prefer Dolce very cold (when I worked at Ch. Mouton, the Baron liked to serve dessert wine so cold that it had slivers of ice forming) very very cold – as in frozen! (we sometimes really do enjoy Dolce sno-cones) or are more of a traditionalist and want it properly chilled with Foie Gras, or Crispy Rolls, we do know that...

Waiting for Dessert Would be a Sin

Check it out and let us know what we missed.

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