2019 Dirty and Rowdy Wear a Mask Red- USA, California (7/18/2021)
Drank my first bottle of this right after Hardy released it. Several months later it’s drinking like liquid sunshine. Red fruit, a little spice and an orange peel finish makes for about as good a summertime red as you can possibly find. Happy, happy, happy!
Just recently opened the 2019 Mendocino Old Vine Barbera.
Kept reading it was “light”, so I hesitated to try it.
Had a family gathering at our house and decided the time was right for something different and it was a hit.
I disagree that this is a light wine, it has plenty of depth and weight.
I like Barbera and this still identifies as Barbera with juicy fruits with that unmistakable D&R style.
Thought it was sold out but still see it on the website so will probably be getting more.
Interesting. Grows on you. Nice blend of flavors, but seems to be heading off in a different direction than other D&Rs.
11/26/20
For Thanksgiving. OK but didn’t grab me this time.
3/31/21:
With pizza at friends. Getting better! Somehow reminds me of a CdR, although the taste profile is different.
D@vid, do you happen to remember the grape varieties that make up this bottling? I never bought any, and presumed it to be somewhat akin to a “kitchen sink” blend made in the “Especial” style.
For me, I find this to be the most identifiable D&R signature for their reds: light, but with loads of depth and texture. I always find myself marveling at how Hardy manages to pack so much depth and breadth into such a delicately extracted wine.
DECANTING INFO:
This wine was bottled at the end of July. Our first recommendation is to let the wine sit for 4-6 weeks to recover from bottling and travel. If you choose to dive in early, please decant decant decant.
Optimal Decant: Overnight (drink next day)
2nd Best: 3-4hrs
Profile / Pairing: The wine is sleek in texture, has BRIGHT acidity, and present but gentle tannin. We suggest trying it with seared duck breasts, margherita pizza, or lentil and leeks over rice (this recipe is awesome and easy)
Note: With the suggested decant, this wine is rocking! It also has the bones to age for years and we would not hesitate to stash a few away.
Thanks for the detailed notes. Interesting suggestion to decant overnight - anyone have any comments about this? Did folks decant and if so, how long? And if not, how much did the wine change over time?
I mostly think that this wine is made up of some pretty incredible sites, a lot of which have strong personalities too. another reason in the column of likely needed some time to stitch together.
Thanks everyone for the notes on this wine. This was the wine we made for CA Farmworker COVID-19 relief. Though a tiny lot, it raised more than $26,000 for the CA Farmworker Foundation and the Napa Farmworker Foundation.
We released this shortly after bottling so we recommended a very long decant. I thought it was delicious pop n’ pour- it was special with a lot of air. I found one at my in-laws in MA just after the 4th and gave it a 45min decant and poured it back in the bottle for 2-3 hrs before serving. I gave it a little chill (10-15min in the freezer) and took it to a party on a porch overlooking Buzzards Bay-- It was exactly what I wanted in my glass (though it disappeared before I could hit it again).
The Chenin was surprising (20%!) and really brought the wine together. I played with as little as 2% and as much as 40%. (The wine also has a full barrel of the 2019 Legends in it.)
Joel mentioned that the sold out Barbera is back on the website- Yes. I put a handful of cases of a few wines up. As we only bottled 15% of our normal production this year, we needed to make the library on some of the young wines quite a bit smaller. Sad for us, wonderful for you!
David- Thanks for digging into this. It sounds like we had a similar response not so far away!