Dunn: A Napa Valley Classic
One of the most iconic cabernets out of Napa Valley is the Dunn Cabernet from Dunn Vineyards. Randy Dunn, the primary principal of this winery, started his career with Caymus back in the 1970’s. He began his own winery in the latter part of that decade. Randy has been known and respected throughout the valley for crafting and creating big, muscular wines that age and age.
Mike Dunn (Randy’s son) is the cellar master and assistant wine maker and has assumed many more of the day-to-day responsibilities of the winery over the past seven years. Mike also started his own label — crafting his own style of wine called Retro, which is a Petite Syrah. He has two wines that are big, bold, and age-able, yet approachable young — at a killer price. His Retro label sells for under $35 and will age gracefully.
I have met Mike in the past and spent time with both him and his lovely wife. They are both awesome, down-to-earth individuals who are a pleasure to be around. Based on this past relationship, I was fortunate enough to meet Mike at the winery this past weekend to get an up close and personal tour of the winemaking process and history along with a tasting of current and past vintages. Some friends joined us, and one of them said Dunn is his favorite cabernet; so it was a treat to meet Mike while viewing the operations of a working winery.
We walked the property and toured the caves while Mike described the process and thinking behind the choices of barrels, the time in barrel, and their approach to racking of the wine. He shared the thinking behind the what, the where, and the why. Quite frankly, it is a great experience to tour a winery with a tour guide who is knowledgeable about the winery’s practices and processes; and having a chance to get a tour from the person responsible for making it all happen on a daily basis is really an enlightening experience.
We finished up our visit with a great tasting of the 2009 Dunn Cabernet and then contrasted that with the 2005 and a 2009 that had been opened two days earlier. Wow! We also were given tastes of the Retro and could see what this is now – quite approachable – and what it will be in a few years. I was excited to taste this Petite Syrah now and look forward to tasting it over time to see it unfold.
My thanks to Mike Dunn for allowing us to visit and learn about Dunn Vineyards and the wine. Look for both Dunn and Retro on the shelves near you. Also, check out their websites to get information about getting on the mailing lists. You can sign up for the mailing list for Retro, but you might have to go on a waiting list to get on the mailing list for Dunn.
Enjoy!
Here are a couple pictures of Mike Dunn and the Dunn Cabernet:
