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OUR STORY | VISIT | WINE CLUB | SHOP
Our 2020 Harvest Team! (minus Jake & Lara)
Harvest begins as the fires finally get under control
We're happy to say that as we write this, the skies outside are blue, and the smoke is dissipating from the air. After a scary week of fire spreading in all directions just about 10 miles from us, mandatory evacuations and warnings, and another rare lightning storm forecast (that, fortunately, didn't materialize), firefighters now have the Walbridge fire 25% contained and holding with about 55,000 acres burned in Sonoma County. Residents are being allowed back into their homes, and life is starting to return to whatever we call normal these days.
 The grapes keep to their own schedule, so in the midst of this, the heat spike we were experiencing pushed ripening along, causing some vineyards to be ready to pick. On Monday and Tuesday this week, we brought in two small lots of Pinot that are part of our Dutton Ranch Pinot blend. We're now into our cool and foggy weather pattern, which is not only helping the firefighters but also slowing down the ripening, giving everyone a little break. That's welcome news also for our harvest interns who just started last week, and had to jump right in to harvest mode. Usually, interns are traveling winemakers who come from across the globe, helping out with harvest in different countries and hemispheres. This year, all our interns are from the US, and in the making lemonade out of lemons category, we were able to bring on several restaurant folks who have wanted to work a harvest, and with COVID giving them time this year, they're able to finally fulfill one of their goals.
The concern of smoke influence on the grapes is the big question for everyone now, so we're testing grapes via berry samples and micro-fermentations, where you pick a bucket with a selection of clusters throughout the vineyard and do a quick fermentation, then taste that for any smokey characters, as well as send it out to a lab to test for the markers of smoke taint. Rest assured, we will not be putting any wines in the bottle that we don't confirm are clean and perfect. As always, we'll keep you posted with harvest updates as the season progresses!
We had to close our tasting room patio for a week due to the air quality, but have now reopened and are hosting appointments again, so if you're needing a break from the tension of the time, come visit us!
Give us your Virtual Tasting ideas
We've really loved connecting with everyone via the Virtual Tastings we've been doing—it's such a great way to get to stay in touch with our friends who can't get here to see us in person. We've been getting wonderful feedback, along with notes asking that we continue even after the sheltering in place world ends. We couldn't agree more, so are putting together a plan for future tastings, and we'd love to hear from you! Email us your ideas of what you'd like to hear from us, topics you'd like us to share, or whatever you think would make a fun and interesting way to connect.
Here are the upcoming ones we have on the calendar right now. We hope you'll join us!
► New Kids on the Block - Friday, September 4 at 4pm PST
Taste our newest additions to the DG portfolio with us: 2019 Rosé of Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast), 2017 Van der Kamp Pinot Noir (Sonoma Mountain), and 2017 Docker Hill Pinot Noir (Mendocino County). Reserve your space | Buy package.
► Cool Runnings with DG Chardonnays - September 18 at 4pm PST
We think our cool climate Chardonnays are some of the best produced (yes, we are a bit biased). Join us as we taste our three single-vineyard Chardonnays: the fifty-one-year-old Rued Vineyard, our classic Walker Hill, and from Marin County, Devil’s Gulch. We’ll supply the wine, you bring the oysters. Reserve your space | Buy package.
► Create Your Own Custom Virtual Tasting
Have a business meeting you need to replace with something virtual and fun? Or a wine group who would like to dive deep into a varietal or region? Or just a group of wine fans who'd like to connect over a tasting? We'd love to help you put together a Virtual Tasting with the wines of your choice. Email us to make a plan!
Tasting the 2018s for the Fall club runs
This time of year also means we're gearing up for our Fall club releases. We'll be sending out the first of our 2018 single-vineyard wines in these packages, which we just bottled between March and May of this year. Before we finalize the schedule in pen, we always taste through the line-up one more time close to release to decide which wines to send out first, and which we think would benefit for a little more time in bottle before the corks are popped by you.
Some of our notes include "dusky plum with Christmas spices," "silky and powerful at the same time," "beautifully balanced with so much going on," and "soft, plush, and solid in the middle." Can you guess which wines these described? Find out when you read the wine notes when the wines are released!
Last Chance - Ends August 31st!
Summer Wines at 10% Off
We're down to only about 40 cases left of our Rosé and Pinot Blanc, and 15 of the Devil's Gulch Gewürztraminer, so get them while they last. Order 12 bottles of all one wine or mix and match, and get 10% off. For our wine club friends, this is on top of your club preferred pricing on the wines.
2019 Rosé of Pinot Noir
2019 Shop Block Pinot Blanc
2019 Devil's Gulch Vineyard Gewürztraminer
2018 Green Valley Vineyard Gewürztraminer
2017 Chileno Valley Vineyard Riesling - SOLD OUT
2018 Chileno Valley Vineyard Riesling
Our overnight shipping for half-price deal is still in place,
so you can be enjoying your wines right away!
Here's to a great 2020 harvest, with a special toast to our brave firefighters!
Your friends at DG
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