2010 Harvest: What a Year!


Every year is different, but 2010 may go into the books as being one of the most different in recent memory. We've had a pretty much non-existent summer, with cool, foggy mornings and evenings, and breaks during the middle of the day where the sun peeks out and warms things up a few degrees. Although the humans aren't generally loving this lack of warm summer days, the grapes are pretty happy about it. As Dan recently said to a journalist, "You can't brag about how cool and foggy your appellation is and then whine about it when it comes true." The vines know that the days are getting shorter, so it's time for them to ripen their fruit, and they are getting the job done, just a little later and more slowly than we're used to.



Dutton-Goldfield had brought in only one lot of pinot as of September 17 (Garry and Dan pose with it here). Then, the heatwave hit this past weekend, with temperatures setting triple-digit records. As a result, this week has been an avalanche of pinot coming into the winery, and Garry and the sorting crew spending a lot of extra time hand sorting the fruit to toss any raisined berries.

Vineyard Spotlight: Sanchietti


Sanchietti Vineyard perches on a lovely knoll in the heart of Green Valley, giving bike riders a perfect view of it from many hilly roads in the county. And making them want to make wine from this beautiful little spot.

The year was 1991, and Dan was winemaker at La Crema Winery. He cycled around Green Valley, and kept noticing this incredible spot one hill over when he hit the peak of Cherry Ridge Road. He found out that the Duttons had planted the vineyard for the Sanchietti's back in 1985 and the fruit was going to Korbel at $400 a ton for sparkling wine, which was all everyone thought cool climate pinot sites were suitable for at the time. He called Warren Dutton and asked if he could purchase the fruit, and Warren said "No way, you guys already owe me too much money." A short while later, the winery entered bankruptcy and Dan started running it for the bank (a great way to learn the business side of wine, for which Dan is still grateful). After Jess Jackson purchased the winery and brand, Dan again called Warren and said, "Now will you sell me that vineyard's fruit? I'll give you $800 a ton." Truly an offer he couldn't refuse, so in 1993, Dan received his first load of Sanchietti grapes at La Crema, and made them a core piece of the La Crema Reserve Pinot that vintage.

As Dan sat in on lot tastings with the team at KJ, including Jess Jackson, they went through all the various lots of pinot, eventually coming to the Sanchietti. Jess stopped at this glass and was blown away by it. He grilled Dan on this incredible pinot and the vineyard, eventually making Dan take him out in the night to see this spot for himself. Two weeks later, Dan received a memo from management stating that he would be heading up a new winery focusing on cool climate single-vineyard pinot noirs, and so Hartford Court was born. Sanchietti Vineyard Pinot was one of their first single-vineyard offerings.

Fast forward to 2002, five years into Dutton-Goldfield. Steve tells Dan, "Remember that vineyard you loved so much at Hartford? Well, with all the new vineyards of their own that they've planted, I think they may be ready to let Sanchietti go. How about we give Jess a call and see if we can get it for DG?" On to a conference call they go, and an agreement is made that we'll share the fruit harvested in 2002, then Dutton-Goldfield can get the entire vineyard starting in 2003. We've been making it as a single-vineyard offering since that 2002 vintage.

One of the pleasures of assembling a wine is choosing the barrel array for the final aging of the wine after blending. In the case of our 2008 Sanchietti, the ginger spice of Taransaud and the floral elements of Remond Trancais barrels were wonderful enhancements for the vineyard. In the nose, the wine is blueberries and black cherry compote, along with coriander and toffee overtones. In the mouth, the thickness of the 2008 vintage is immediately apparent, supporting a sweet core of blackberry and blueberry fruit and carried by wonderfully fine but substantial tannin core. This is a beautifully generous wine for current drinking, whose balance will also carry it for many years to come.

Welcome to John & Garry, and our New Tasting Room!

John Dutton-Goldfield in welcoming two new members to our team: John Schulz has joined us as National Sales Director, and Garry Brooks is our Assistant Winemaker. Look for John out and about all over the country spreading the DG word, and come visit Garry in the cellar here in Sebastopol (okay, we may let him out a bit here and there as well).

Dutton-Goldfield was thrilled to open our new tasting room in April. We've been excited to host so many of you already in our new digs, and hope those of you who haven't yet made it here will add us to your plans when you're in the Russian River Valley area. We have a comfy living room, a fireplace to keep things cozy on cold days, and rocking tunes on the stereo. We're delighted to set up our special visitors with VIP appointments. Just contact John (john@duttongoldfield.com) or Valerie (valerie@duttongoldfield.com) to book yours.

 

New Releases: 2008 Single-Vineyards

Our single-vineyard wines from the 2008 vintage have just been released. This year, we have three special pinots, showcasing these unique sites in different appellations:

Devil's Gulch from Marin County;
Freestone Hill from Russian River Valley;
Sanchietti Vineyard from Green Valley of Russian River Valley.

Due to the fires up on the coast in 2008, we weren't able to make our McDougall Vineyard Pinot this year. We're happy to report that it will be back for 2009.

For you chardonnay fans, there is our Rued Vineyard from Green Valley of Russian River Valley.

All of these wines are produced in quantities of just a few hundred cases, so if you have an interest in any of these wines, please get in touch with John Schulz (john@duttongoldfield.com / 707.291.4928) or Valerie Wathen (valerie@duttongoldfield.com / 707.823.3887).

The Latest Reviews

We were thrilled to receive these nice reviews from Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar:

2007 Dutton Ranch Chardonnay
Bright golden yellow. Tropical fruits and clove spice on the nose, complicated by subtle toast and vanilla notes. Pliant and rather laid-back, with firm acidity giving spine to the wine's fruit and mineral flavors. Offers a surprisingly light touch for its golden color. Finishes fresh and classically dry...90.

2008 Devil's Gulch Pinot Noir
Good bright, deep red. Aromas of blueberry, cherry vanilla, cola and tobacco are a bit low-toned. Then moderately dense and fleshy in the mouth, with good energy but limited sweetness to the black raspberry and cola flavors. Finishes with firm, dusty tannins...88.

2008 Dutton Ranch Pinot Noir
Medium red. Reticent but lively nose offers raspberry, flowers, spices and intriguing soil tones. Fat, sweet, creamy and rich, with good pinot cut and lift to the black fruit flavors. Nicely harmonious acidity frames and extends the wine's fruit...91.

2008 Sanchietti Vineyard Pinot Noir
Bright red-ruby. Reticent, lower-toned nose hints at black cherry and mocha. Concentrated and chocolatey but less agreeably fruity and lively today than the basic RRV bottling. There's an edge of acidity here but I wanted more lift and cut. Finishes with dusty tannins. I'd give this wine a year in the cellar...90.

2008 Freestone Hill Pinot Noir
Good deep red with ruby highlights. High-pitched, perfumed aromas of black fruits, eucalyptus, white pepper and flowers. Then juicy and precise, with bright acidity and a lightly medicinal quality contributing cut but keeping the wine's dark fruit flavors under wraps today. Finishes with firm tannins and good verve. A bit youthfully aggressive today, this wine will merit a higher score if it gains in sweetness and flesh with bottle age...91(+?)?

2007 Cherry Ridge Vineyard Syrah
Bright ruby-red. Cassis, black raspberry, licorice and dark chocolate aromas, complicated by pepper and dried herbs. Juicy, penetrating and primary, with noteworthy intensity and verve to the dark berry, licorice and black pepper flavors framed by spices and herbs. Quite firmly built, even a bit youthfully ungiving today, and in need of a year or two of patience. Carrying a downright reasonable 13.5% alcohol, according to the label...90(+?).

2008 Morelli Lane Vineyard Zinfandel
Dark, bright red. Crushed berries, orange zest and licorice on the nose, with complementary oak. A pure and penetrating style of zinfandel, with juicy flavors of blackberry and spices. Not fleshy today but this very young and fresh wine should evolve nicely. Finishes firm but not hard, with a note of bitter chocolate and noteworthy persistence...91.


And we just received early word from Wine Enthusiast that these reviews will be coming out in December:

2008 Rued Vineyard Chardonnay - 96

2008 Freestone Hill Pinot Noir - 95

2008 Sanchietti Vineyard Pinot Noir - 92

2008 Dutton Ranch Chardonnay - 92

2008 Devil's Gulch Pinot Noir - 90


To read more reviews, visit our website.

We have shelf talkers available (6 to a sheet) on our website that you can download and print out.

Wine Terminology
From Pinot Forum materials.

Leaf Pulling: A technique used in the early growing season to remove leaves and thereby improve the intensity of sunlight on the clusters.

Lees: The residue or gross sediment thrown off by a wine soon after it is made.

Maderization: The chemical deterioration of a wine, caused by either poor storage or from exposure to heat.

Malolactic Fermentation: Secondary fermentation by which tart malic acid in wine is converted to softer lactic acid through the action of Lactobacillus or Leuconostoc bacteria.

Mercaptans: Compounds formed in wine by the further reduction of hydrogen sulfide, yielding disagreeable vegetal, rubbery or garlicky odors.

Mesoclimate: The climate of an individual vineyard or cluster of vineyards that lie in an area of similar weather patterns.

Microclimate: The climate surrounding an individual vine.

Must: Grape juice either pressed or crushed to be made into wine.