Dante

Michael Pozzan proudly presents Dante, named after his eldest son, Michael Dante Pozzan, and inspired by wines savored during travels through the Italian countryside. The style of these hearty yet approachable wines is reminiscent of that in your favorite Italian trattoria. Our Dante Collection is as rich in character as in culture, and as vibrant in personality as Michael’s son. Cheers!

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Dante 2011
Cabernet Sauvignon

This affordable Cabernet Sauvignon is medium, brick red in color which signifies maturity at this relatively early stage. The aromas from the glass are fresh and slightly grapey expressing its youth and fruit forward character and folds into rich plum and sandalwood background notes. The palate is juicy and ripe with sweet black cherry and subtle cassis. The wine is balanced with good acidity and will improve with age, but drinks well now and will continue to mature through 2017.

This wine pairs well with lasagna, flat bread topped with goat cheese and braised fennel, or a variety of eggplant dishes including mousakka.

Dante 2010
Cabernet Sauvignon

100% California

100% Cabernet Sauvignon

Aged 10 months in American Oak

This generous Cabernet is medium plum colored and layered with cassis, cigar box, dark chocolate with coffee bean and an underlying matrix of cranberry. The palate is varietally correct with ripe and supple Cabernet tannins and herbaceous spice. As the mid-palate unfolds, it reveals the rich and sappy nuance of French oak, balanced carefully over the dark fruit medley and finishing as ripe black cherry and raspberry coulis.

This wine pairs well with brisket and beef stews, lamb kebab and dry hard cheeses like Pecorino or Reggiano.

This wine will drink well through 2015.

Dante 2009
Cabernet Sauvignon

90% Lodi

10% Sonoma County

100% Cabernet Sauvignon

Aged 8 months in French Oak

This Cabernet has a deep pomegranate color. The aromas feature generous French Oak notes expressed by rich vanilla and ripe black cherry notes. The palate is sappy with more generous French Oak, which leads to a juicy cassis and boysenberry mid-palate. Ultimately, this wine finishes silky smooth, but varietally correct with nice cab tannins and big cassis fruit. This is a quality cabernet with all of the characteristics you look for in a high end Cabernet, except the price.

Take this wine to barbeques or Monday Night Football and expect it to steal the spotlight. The same week, take a bottle to dinner with the boss; don't be surprised if you get the same reaction. The price to quality ratio is so high on this wine; go for the Filet Mignon; since you're saving a bundle on the wine, though it seems like you're drinking a Napa Cabernet.

This wine also pairs well with spit roasted, organic chicken or pork loin, heavy sauces like Bolognese and Beef Daube.

Dante 2008
Cabernet Sauvignon

95% Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon

5% Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Aged 9 months in American Oak

Rich and fleshy with wonderful cherry and smoky sage fruit upfront. Medium tannins with earthy mineral, dried berry and currant fruit that's full-bodied in the finish. Drinks well now, but will improve over the next two years. Pair it with juicy barbequed rib eye or roast duck. It is even great after dinner with one of my favorite cigars. 9,500 cases produced.

2012 Dante Chardonnay

100% Lodi Chardonnay

Aged 2 months in French Oak

The grapes for this Chardonnay were sourced from the Northern Interior Valley of California and displays a medium straw color rich with ripe apricot notes which are framed by subtle French oak notes, hints of vanilla and custard. The palate expresses tropical notes including passion fruit, guava, a touch of kiwi and lychee on the finish.

It pairs exceptionally well with seared English Seabass with sautéed wild mushrooms seasoned with Marjoram and Thyme along with a crispy rice cake made with seaweed and sesame seeds.

This wine will age well through 2017.

3,000 cases produced.

Dante 2011 Chardonnay

This barrel fermented Chardonnay is medium straw colored and has tropical mango and pineapple fruit notes with light butterscotch. The palate has a ripe peach entry with honeycomb and slight clove. This wine finishes with ripe tangerine and Medjool date flavors and then recalls the earlier mentioned honeycomb.

This lively Chardonnay pairs well with salmon encrusted with coriander seed and served over a Vietnamese rice noodle salad tossed with fresh mango, peanuts and avocado.

This wine will age well through 2016.

Dante 2010 Chardonnay

100% California

100% Chardonnay

Aged 4 months in French Oak

This wine has a pale straw color with up front aromas of custard and crème brulèe notes backed with quince paste and spicy Gravenstein apples. The palate carries on with a complex Pipen and Fuji apple blend which gradually fades into a honey butter, Key Lime pie-like finish. This is a complex and balanced Chardonnay ripe with apple and citrus fruit notes and flavors with only light buttery, malolactic flavors (and only on the finish) making it a perfect pairing wine.

This is a great wine with a wide variety of seafood including steamed mussels, seared sea scallops or lobster, but is great everyday with heirloom tomato, beet or citrus salads. It marries nicely with sushi rolls and seaweed salads, but a nice piece of grilled salmon with fluffy mashed potatoes and green beans is hard to beat.

This wine drinks optimally in its youth and will age through 2014.

Dante 2009 Chardonnay

100% California

100% Chardonnay

Aged 5 months in French Oak

This wine has a light flinty straw color with aromas of ripe backed Fuji apples and a hint of botrytis with cinnamon spice. The palate expresses freshly cut green apple, Pipen to be exact, and backed with a blast of Meyer lemon juice. Overall this fruit driven Chardonnay finishes tropical with guava and passion fruit nectar flavors.

This is a great wine with a myriad of whitefish and seafood choices such as John Dory poached in parchment with a snow pea, turnip and vegetable reduction. Seared sea scallops served on parsnip mashed potatoes with white truffle oil and wilted watercress. Sea bass steamed with tea leaves and served with jasmine rice with green onion and sautéed Crimini mushrooms. Total cases produced: 3,000

Dante 2008 Chardonnay

91% California

9% Napa Valley

100% Chardonnay

Aged 6 months in French Oak

Bright, vibrant, and appealing. Fruity notes of apricot, peach and apple are accompanied by just a hint of oak. It is very well balanced and has a delicious lingering finish. This is a medium bodied wine which is perfect for pairing with a variety of dishes. Try it with smoked salmon. 5,000 cases produced.

Dante 2010 Merlot

This tasty Merlot has a deep plum color and a hint of brick edges. The aromas are ripe blueberry and cocoa with a cassis lining. The palate features ripe huckleberry and raspberry flavors, but the beauty of this wine is that the fruit folds elegantly into the silk oak finish and parts with tannin, fruit and vanilla extract.

This is a terrific red wine as an aperitif or everyday red sipper. Try it with eggplant parmesan or hearty cheeses like aged Vermont white cheddar or Stilton.

This wine was aged for 14 months in French oak and while it drinks well now and will continue to do so through 2017.

Dante 2009 Merlot

100% California

100% Merlot

Aged 10 months in French Oak and American Oak

This wine displays dark plum color with rich and concentrated blueberry, plum, and cassis aromas. The aromatics range from concentrated fruit and sappy vanilla to floral lavender notes. The palate is very rich with cherry vanilla and juicy pomegranate nestled onto a platform of gentle French Oak with toasted vanilla. The wine finishes with the same blue fruit as the entry aroma; but the blueberry takes on a wild bramble texture, more like huckleberries over a cassis pie.

This wine pairs well with anything hearty or savory and needing some fruit to balance the flavors. Things like salty, cured meats or grilled pork chops glazed in a pomegranate sauce. This is a really nice stand alone red and a fantastic everyday Merlot. This wine is from the Lodi and River Junction appellations and should age well for 5-7 years. Drink now through 2013.

Dante 2008 Merlot

95% Monterey County Merlot

5% Napa Valley Merlot

Aged 9 months in American oak

This wine is medium to full body with overtones of plum, strawberry and black cherry. It is earthy, with dried herbs in the nose and palate. Spice and floral flavors that is somewhat complex and focused. This is a soft, supple Merlot that would pair well with grilled chicken and mature cheese. It has a lingering finish, framed by medium tannins. Drink now through 2012. 6,000 cases produced.

Dante 2012 Pinot Grigio

Our Pinot Grigio has a brilliant light flint color which admittedly looks as refreshing as the wine itself. The aromas are crisp with snappy lemon based acidity but with nice minerality. The palate has tons of minerality as well such as sea salt and calcium, meyer lemon notes, but ultimately subtle with light jasmine and tea leaf notes.

We like the expression: "this wine is wet". It's just a refreshing and satisfying temperature moderator. This wine is a super refreshing aperitif or starter to a summer time meal or a fantastic accompaniment to shellfish - especially oysters on the half shell with lemon, fresh horseradish and a champagne mignonette, tomato, fennel or fresh beet salads with goat cheese is a natural pairing. Sans food, a hot day and a need for a light thirst quencher is all that is needed.

This wine was stainless steel fermented and intended for current consumption.

Dante 2010 Pinot Grigio

100% Pinot Grigio

100% California Central Valley (Lodi and Clarksburg AVA)

100% Stainless Steel Fermentation

This wine is a pale yellow color with a flinty green hue. The aromas of the wine are nectary and mineral based with tropical fruit notes like passion fruit, key lime and kefir. On the palate this wine explodes with tropical fruit, yet stops short of being juicy or nectary – it's more of a refreshing Sauvignon Blanc composition that shows well cold on a hot day and fulfills sophisticated refreshment poolside and with al fresco dining.

This wine is tank fermented cold and in the absence of oak which allows the maximum in floral and fruit expression. While this wine makes a refreshing summertime sipper, it pairs well with pasta Carbonara, Proscuitto di Parma (with or without melon) and is a choice selection on a hot day, with chilled heirloom seedless watermelon wedges. Enjoy through 2015.

Dante 2009 Pinot Grigio

100% California

100% Pinot Grigio

100% Stainless Steel Fermented

This refreshing white wine is a brilliant, pale, steely yellow color. The aromas are of crisp apple, lemon-lime citrus with a mineral scent. The palate is embellished with tangerine and Meyer lemon tart flavors, which finish with honeycomb, clove and jasmine spice.

This is a nice summertime sipper, but great with seafood stews, fresh blue point oysters and Dungeness crab dishes. Drink now through 2012. 3,000 cases produced.

2012 Dante Pinot Noir

100% Lodi Pinot Noir

Aged 8 months in French Oak

This is a light garnet colored Pinot Noir selected from premium growing areas within California. The aromas are subtle with sour cherry and leathery notes which intertwine with rich French oak notes as a backdrop. The palate is flavorful with more cherry notes and cocoa and vanilla flavors and with ample acidity to bring all of these flavors together elegantly. It finishes with sweet oak and snappy acidity making it a perfect food wine.

Try it with hard and sharp cheeses such as Reggiano, aged cheddar and farmstead feta. Its particularly nice with pasta bolognaise, wild boar ragu or beef based stews.

This wine will drink well through 2016.

Cases Produced: 5,000

RB – 11/10/13

Dante 2011 Pinot Noir

100% California

100% Pinot Noir

Aged 7 months in French Oak

This is a light garnet colored Pinot Noir selected from premium growing areas within California. The aromas are subtle with watermelon and cherry which evoke a lightly earthen sense about it. On the palate, the wine has bright sour cherry notes and delicate tannins which make it an ideal summertime sipper. Speaking of summer, try this Pinot with a slight chill as this will liven the acidity and make it as refreshing on a hot day as a well-chilled white wine.

This delicate wine is best with lighter fare and summer cuisines such as steamed summer squash tossed in extra virgin olive oil and Reggiano parmesan, light pastas with cream or butter and bruschetta.

This wine will drink well through 2015.

Dante 2010 Pinot Noir

100% California

100% Pinot Noir

Aged 7 months in French Oak

This is a light plum colored Pinot Noir grown in the interior of the Northern Central Coast where the temperatures are cooler as it receives afternoon winds from the San Francisco Bay Area. Don't let the small price fool you; this is a varietally correct Pinot Noir, unblended and affordable, practically an oxymoron today. The aromas have a nice Asian spice component and sits a top sweet, plumb cherry notes. On the palate the wine is balanced with good acidity and a platform of ripe plum, sweet and sour cherry flavors. You would have to spend about $20 to beat this wine; so why bother? Buy two of these and put your change in your piggy bank. Drink now through 2015.

Dante 2009 Pinot Noir

90% California

10% Carneros

100% Pinot Noir

Aged 6 months

This inaugural Pinot Noir for the Dante line has a brilliant garnet color with aromas of sour cherry, dried orange peel, a hint of clove over a back drop of earthy leather. The palate is rich and supple on the entry with pomegranate, sandalwood spice and finishes with a balanced touch of cocoa and coffee.

This wine is an incredible value in the market place and better than most; dare I say all Pinot Noirs within its competitive set and many at twice the price.

This wine pairs well with sundried tomato pesto pasta, Rabbit Ragu with soft polenta or roasted pork loin with balsamic glazed Brussel sprouts. Drink now through 2012. 5,000 cases produced.