Dirty & Rowdy Interactive Tasting Event
2018 D&R Skin and Concrete Egg Fermented Semillon, 2016 D&R Maple’s Spring Street Petit Sirah
This has been an incredibly difficult time. Friends have fallen sick to COVID-19. Others are worried about their jobs as the economy crashes. Personal tragedy has struck our household with Rachel’s aunt passing away. She was pushed out of a Staten Island hospital to make way for patients of the virus.
Compounding it all, we cannot be close to people at the moment when we most need to be.
Zoom has offered a lifeline. It has allowed us to engage regularly with friends across the country that we only occasionally text with. Quick phone calls with my parents in between errands have turned into lengthy bi-weekly conversations with the whole family dialing in.
Wine is an incredibly social hobby and all of my great experiences have been shared with others. Virtual tastings will never replace the real thing, but it has been heartening to share these experiences with people across the country passionate about wine in these tough times. I have been going to two-to-three interactive tastings a week held by California wineries, industry professionals, and critics.
I purchased the Dirty & Rowdy interactive tasting pack and one of each from the Spring release after hearing Hardy Wallace, the founder of D&R, on the Bedrock podcast. It sounded like the D&R guys were doing very different things with Mourvedre, Semillon, Petit Sirah, and other grape varietals I do not typically drink. It also sounded like they were having a lot of fun in the process.
The Zoom event was a hit with up to 63 participants on the call at one point. On tap was the 2018 D&R Semillon from Yountsville and the 2016 D&R Maple’s Spring Street Petit Sirah from St. Helena (the Spottswoode vineyard?). Hardy walked us through the vineyards, the wines, and the origin story for the winery. All of this information was interspersed with live jazz music from musicians in Denver.
First up, the 2018 Dirty & Rowdy Skin and Concrete Egg Fermented Semillon. I have not had a lot of Semillon outside of sweet wines from Sauternes, but I would drink a lot more if they tasted like this. Skin fermented, the wine takes on a dark yellow/orange hue. Featuring primarily savory notes of crushed wet rocks, brine, orange, lemon extract, herbs, celery, and wild brush. At 11% alcohol this is light, refreshing, and perfect for summertime drinking. I would like a little more bite from acidity, but I would definitely order this again for the uniqueness. It drank well on second day. 92 points.
The 2016 Dirty & Rowdy Maple’s Spring Street Petit Sirah is stunning and a completely unique expression of the varietal. I usually despise Napa Valley Petit Sirah because it is heavy, expensive, and has few distinguishing characteristics. This is completely different. At 13.5% alcohol it is medium bodied and elegant, like a Bordeaux from a lower alcohol vintage. This lightness allows the dark fruits, black pepper, and fine-grained tannins that are characteristic of the grape to shine. There is fantastic energy and tension from the first sip to a lengthy finish. I will definitely order more of this. 96 points.
I have never experienced anything like the wines and this event. Bravo to Hardy for putting this together.
