As we celebrate Doffo Winery’s second consecutive year being voted Best Red at the Temecula Valley People’s Choice Blind Tasting Awards, Damian reflects on the early days of the winery and how far the Doffo family has come in the years since.
In the early days of the tasting room there was only one very small counter where we could have wine tastings. I’m talking eight people was a crowd! I would help my Dad sell wine but as I bussed glass and rang up customers I’d have an ear listening to him recount the journey of starting the winery. I would always capture a new detail; an insight into his drive, his passion and charisma. One that always stuck with me was about not having a desire to compete in wine competitions or submitting for reviews. He truly had zero desire to impress a judge or receive a small sticker to add to his wine bottle boasting its ranking. I have always agreed with him. However, three years ago the Temecula Valley visitors bureau created “The People’s Choice” tasting competition and we agreed that we should play ball. We liked that it was a local wine competition, that it was blind format and best of all that it was judged by Temecula Valley wine enthusiasts.
When they announced the winners that first year, we were thrilled that our 2014 Doffo Zinfandel brought home 2nd Place in the inaugural event! I was later told by an insider that the point differential was down to tenths of a point. Nothing fires up a competitive person more than losing by a fraction of a point! When the 2017 People’s Choice event was announced we briefly considered submitting the 2014 Doffo Zinfandel for a revenge match, but we had just recently bottled the 2015 Doffo Zinfandel and we knew it had a fighting chance even though it was still in bottle shock. We gambled and went with the 2015.
The night of the event, my sister Samantha received a call from my father as he was driving to the event regarding our decision to submit the 2015 instead of an older Zinfandel Reserve. Sam wisely redirected his call my way and didn’t get a chance to fire me a warning text before I got the call from Dad. He fired the same question and all I could think to reply was “Dad, it’s pretty good, I think it’s got a shot.” He responded, “Oh, you’re that confident now?” A few hours later he called me again but this time his tone was a bit different. He tried his hardest to keep up the act but he cracked and congratulated us for the win!
Damian, Brigitte, Marcelo and Samantha with the 1st Place 2015 Zinfandel
That moment was very humbling for both my father and me. We pour every ounce of love and passion into every crop and have never wavered from our instincts and our core desire to improve our farming and wine craft. When my father planted the first vineyard his intention wasn’t to make a lot of wine, he simply wanted to make little bit of really great wine. Winning that award validated everything my father sacrificed to chase his dream.
When it came time to submit for the 2018 People’s Choice Awards, we chatted about perhaps submitting a different varietal of wine. A certain quote came to mind – “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” – and off went the submission paperwork along with the freshly bottled 2016 Doffo Zinfandel. The 2016 crop was hit hard by a big heat wave over Father’s Day. The recorded vineyard temperatures neared the 130° F mark. The heat wreaked havoc on vineyards throughout the valley, burning the baby berries right off the vine! Some vineyard blocks lost upwards of 70% of the crop. The higher points of our Zinfandel blocks fell victim to the heat as well. The remaining crop recuperated from the heat and went on to make it through harvest. The resulting wines from the 2016 harvest were all lighter in yield, but the intensity of the fruit was incredible.
The Doffo family celebrate back-to-back 1st Place awards!
The third annual People’s Choice Awards was held October 28th, and to stick with tradition my father went as our representative. I was out of town representing the winery at another event but a wild thought crossed my mind: “Could you imagine if we win it again?” Later that night when I saw my father’s name flash across my caller ID I grew anxious as I answered the phone. Again my father opened with the serious questions with an absolute lack of emotion. He didn’t make it all of 5 seconds into my reply before he cracked! Our 2016 Doffo Zinfandel got the job done! The 2016 Doffo Zinfandel now carries the title the People’s Choice title of “Best Red” in the Temecula Valley!
This incredible wine is on deck for our next Doffo Wine Club release in February 2019, but we are making a select few bottles available for a limited time as part of our Award Winning Zin 2-Pack! This is your only way to get our yet-to-be-released 2016 Zinfandel before February. You can also purchase the 1st Place 2015 Zinfandel individually.
