2007 Harvest

Another vintage in the barn - and a fun one it was! It's always more fun when the fruit is beautiful, and 2007 is certainly one of those years that will be remembered as beautiful, particularly for the finicky pinot vineyards. With the dry winter and warm spring, budbreak came a bit ahead of schedule in mid March. Although weather reports showed California in a drought, the soil profile in the vineyards remained full, as the rains we had came in reasonable downfalls, allowing complete absorption down into the soil rather than downpours that saturate the soil and run off down the hillsides. This sets the stage for the steady, moderate shoot development.

Set weather was excellent during our early flowering, but clusters were small, so the yields were rather low. Pinots averaged between 1 and 3 tons per acre, and the chards generally around 3. Summer was cool and steady, classic Russian River, with no great heat spells to stress the vines. This and the great organization over at Dutton Ranch enabled shoot thinning, cane tucking and shoot positioning of the vines to take place just when needed. All combined for great leaf to fruit balance in the vineyards, and, along with the early warmth, promoted beautiful ripening and exceptional tannin and color development in the fruit. At the same time, the cool late ripening season kept the sugars from building at a high rate and the acids high.

A brief heat spike brought us our first wave of fruit starting September 5, with our Morelli Lane Chardonnay coming in first. Our higher, dryer pinot vineyards, like McDougall on the Sonoma Coast, and Silva at the top of Cherry Ridge, came in during that first little wave, but then very cool foggy weather arrived and gave us almost 2 weeks hiatus before we ramped up again.

This spread-out harvest mellows things out in the winery and helps the quality of the vintage by giving the crew time to gel and taking the pressure off of tank space needs-and most importantly gives the winemakers time to really fuss over every lot. It also gives us the luxury of selecting just the perfect pick date for each vineyard. And on October 10, harvest was done for Dutton-Goldfield—even the Syrah, which made Dan extremely happy (frequently, we're hanging on until November waiting to be completely done). All in all, Dan had to admit this was an embarrassingly pain-free harvest.

With such a beautiful year, we'll have four single-vineyard pinots to share with you from this vintage, and of course the Rued Chard, exotic as ever. Devil's Gulch, clocking in at 1.03 tons per acre, is dark and wild; Sanchietti is all about blueberries and violets; Freestone is silky and lively, deep without being brooding; and McDougall is red cherries, sassafras and granite, showing its Sonoma Coast tannin lineage.

We have a few new vineyards we're especially excited about this year. Two new cold Green Valley vineyards will become integral parts of the Dutton Ranch Chardonnay: JJJS, a vineyard that was planted for Dan in the '90s when he was at Hartford (labeled as Three Jacks), will add tropical notes; and the old Wente clone vines at Walker will bring zingy lime to the party. The Dutton Ranch Pinot will also see two great new additions. Marty's is a younger vineyard planted to a great mix of three clones—667, Pommard and 828—which will add bright fruit bowl flavors, deep color, a nice acid balance and luscious tannins. And Morelli Lane's planting of heritage Swan clone from Tom Dehlinger's budwood will chime in with juicy blackberry and a beautiful floral lift.

Wine Releases
As we mentioned last quarter, the 2005 single-vineyard wines are now officially released. Here's a quick summary of the line-up:

2005 Rued Vineyard Chardonnay - Our only single-vineyard Chardonnay, from the famed Rued Vineyard in Green Valley-Russian River Valley. There seem to be more and more Rued Clone wines out there, all taken from this original planting, coveted for its high-toned aromatics, exotic tropical flavors and incredible depth and lushness, but from a cool-climate site to keep it bright and lively. 564 cases.

2005 McDougall Vineyard Pinot Noir - Our offering from the "true" Sonoma Coast, with a view of the Pacific Ocean, Gualala River and neighbors Hirsch and Martinelli vineyards. The vivid Bing cherry, candied cranberry and mineral elements that the vineyard is known for are underlain with notes of licorice and cocoa. Big and bold, yet still elegant and refined, with a big block of juicy fruit, both brilliant and solid. 250 cases.

2005 Sanchietti Vineyard Pinot Noir - Dan's been making wine from this spectacular vineyard since 1992, giving him a unique history and perspective on how best to coax the fruit into a beautiful wine. The stunning combination of grace and power, with violet and black tea aromas and a silky mouthfeel have made this a favorite with our sommelier friends. 343 cases.

2005 Freestone Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir - One of our coldest vineyards, Freestone doesn't reward us with a single-vineyard every year, so we're thrilled to have it back in the portfolio this year after a 5-year break. The exotic Asian spice notes overlay the sweet boysenberry and blackberry fruit, giving us a wine with depth and dark tones but with a liveliness that keeps you coming back for more. 361 cases.

And, we're happy to say we've released our 2006 Dutton Ranch Pinot Noir early, so you should be seeing that in your market soon if you haven't already.

2006 Dutton Ranch Pinot Noir - The long, cool 2006 growing season enabled extended hang time in our great array of pinot vineyards, developing the ebullient fruit and rich structure that Russian River is so prized for. Its aromatic lushness immediately distinguishes our '06 Dutton Ranch Pinot offering, with succulent black cherry, blackberry and cranberry aromas fairly leaping out of the glass. With time, the undertones of Asian spice and a slight smokiness creep in for support. In the mouth, the wine follows with the expected vibrant cherry and cranberry fruit, but really fills out with darker blackberry and coffee undertones. True to the Dutton-Goldfield style, the wine's fresh acidity and moderate alcohol facilitate the clean berry finish. At this stage of its life this is a beautiful wine to pair with fresh cheeses and rich fish dishes, but in a few more years it will be a perfect truffle risotto or smoked quail match. 3,472 cases.

In the News

We were ecstatic to once again—for the fourth year in a row—be selected as a Wine & Spirits Top 100 Winery for 2007.

In the December issue of Wine Enthusiast, we've received advance notice that two of our wines will be quite highly recommended:
2005 Rued Vineyard Chardonnay - 95 points and Editors' Choice.
2005 Freestone Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir - 96 points

Decanter magazine included our 2004 Cherry Ridge Vineyard Syrah in their profile of cool climate syrahs, naming it one of the Best of the Rest.

In another UK publication, The World of Fine Wine did a retrospective of 2004 California Chardonnay and included our Dutton Ranch Chardonnay and Rued Vineyard Chardonnay as two of their favorites, placing 5th and 9th, respectively, with scores of 16 and 15.5.

Restaurant Wine recently tasted our 2005 Freestone Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir, and had this to say: "Wow! A fine and elegant wine, that is full bodied, well balanced, moderately intense in flavor, and very long on the finish, tasting of rose petal, nutmeg, roasted nut, blueberry, cherry, and spicy oak. Exceptional...Five Stars."

On the Road with Pete:
What's Up with Syrah?

Okay, we all know the market for high end syrah is a challenge. At first glance, it seems a bit bewildering. As I travel across the country, I see people drinking all sorts of wines that one didn't see a few years ago: Gruner veltliner from Austria, albarino from Spain, German and Austrian Rieslings, Arneis from Italy, Argentinian Malbec, Dolcettos and Barberas, pinots from New Zealand, the list goes on and on. The fine wine drinking public has never been so adventurous, so open to trying new wines. One would think that there would be a place for syrah in this mix.

But these wines, for the most part, have two things in common that high end syrah doesn't have. One, of course, is price. Most are relatively moderate in price, below $25 retail, in a category where wine drinkers are prone to be more experimental. Secondly, and perhaps more important, most of these wines have a clearly defined profile that drinkers understand. For example, most people that try a gruner or albarino either know or have been told to expect a wine that is light, crisp and vibrant. The varietal is clearly understood in the marketplace.

Here is where syrah suffers by comparison. Many people who drink shiraz from Australia don't even know it's syrah. Once they find out, that ripe, jammy moderately priced Aussie red is miles away, literally and figuratively, from syrahs from cooler climates. The disconnect is apparent. It's pretty difficult to take one that is used to $9.99 Aussie Shiraz to a wine like our Cherry Ridge Vineyard Syrah. Not only is that wine significantly more expensive, it is stylistically a world apart. And don't even think about syrahs from the Rhone. Most folks don't have a frame of reference for those wines at all.

So where is the appeal for California syrah, particularly ones from cooler climates like the Russian River? Well, let's talk about the character of these wines, using Cherry Ridge as an example. The vineyard is in the heart of the cool Green Valley, but 950 feet above sea level. Because of the elevation, it's above the fog line for longer stretches of the day during the growing season, allowing it to get enough heat to adequately ripen. Yet it remains influenced by the maritime climate, and the cool foggy mornings and evenings extend the growing season typically well into October, occasionally into the beginning of November. Here is the trade off: While you get a wine that is certainly ripe enough (at least from our perspective), it never has that hedonistic intensity that can often characterize syrahs from warmer climates. Nor does it have the sheer power of most Napa Valley syrahs. However, the wine has as aromatic complexity and balance that one rarely finds in syrahs from warmer sites. Cherry Ridge typically has floral notes, a noticeable spiciness, a subtle minerality and a lively acidity that make it a completely different drink from the jammy shiraz from Australia and the more muscular wines from Napa and Washington state. As someone said to me recently after tasting our 2004 Cherry Ridge Syrah: "This is wine a pinot producer would make."

That, I think, is the appeal of wines like this. For pinot drinkers that are looking for a more full bodied red, it's hard to beat cool climate syrahs. They are often attracted to the aromatic complexity and raciness of wines from these sites. But there is another attraction, as well. Wines like the Cherry Ridge Syrah offer a bit of the best of two worlds: the rich fruit profile that one associates with California wines with some of the aromatic notes associated with syrah-based wines from the Rhone. And these wines often show very well when they are released, with a drinkability that can make them imminently tastier than young Napa cabernets. And here's the great part: these wines are a fraction of the price. Most of the best Napa cabs sell for more than $100 retail, several times the price of many of the best cool climate syrahs. So while the drinker who is used to quaffing that $9.99 bottle of shiraz may scratch their head in puzzlement over a $35 bottle of Cherry Ridge Syrah, the high end pinot lovers and cab drinkers who occasionally look for a little change of pace may recognize cool climate syrah for what it can be: an incredible value. As the different styles of syrah slowly become associated with particular regions and people get a better handle on what to expect from the varietal, I'm willing to bet that it will become more popular among fine wine drinkers. But it will be necessary to pop a lot of corks from the various syrah producing regions of the world for that to happen.

 

Dutton-Goldfield Winery, 825 Gravenstein Hwy N, Suite 3, Sebastopol, CA 95472
707.823.3887 ~ Fax: 707.829.6766 ~ Email: info@duttongoldfield.com ~ web: www.duttongoldfield.com