BACKGROUND:
Dutton-Goldfield Winery was founded in 1998 when longtime friends and colleagues Steve Dutton and Dan Goldfield united over a shared vision: to craft world-class wines that capture the personality of their vineyards and the cool-climate elegance of their coastal home. Their mission has always been to produce wines of brightness, complexity, structure, and balance—bottles they’d proudly enjoy at their own dinner tables. Steve, a fifth-generation Sonoma County farmer, grew up immersed in vineyard life, working alongside his father, Warren Dutton, a pioneer of grape growing in the western Russian River Valley. What started as a modest 35-acre family vineyard has since expanded to over 1,000 acres across 80 vineyard sites, all carefully managed by Steve alongside his mother and brother, Joe.

Dan Goldfield’s journey to winemaking began in research chemistry before a love for the 1969 Burgundies led him to pursue a master’s in Enology at UC Davis. His passion for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay was shaped through hands-on experience at Robert Mondavi Winery, Schramsberg, and two years of winemaking in Portugal. He later became head winemaker at La Crema and was instrumental in establishing Hartford Court. Today, his deep appreciation for Sonoma’s extraordinary terroir is reflected in every bottle he crafts. Dutton-Goldfield Winery remains a benchmark producer of small-lot, site-driven wines, with a focus on sustainably farmed Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Zinfandel, and more.

The grapes for this Pinot Noir come from Putnam Vineyard, situated in the Annapolis sub-region of the Sonoma Coast. This 32-acre family-owned vineyard benefits from a cool, maritime climate and significant annual rainfall, conditions that extend the growing season and promote slow, even grape maturation. Positioned just above the fog line amidst towering redwoods, the vineyard’s gravelly soils and deficit irrigation practices yield naturally low-yielding vines, resulting in thick-skinned grapes with concentrated flavors.

Winemaker’s Notes

The fruit was hand sorted and gently layered into two open-top fermenters. The must was cold-soaked for 5 days in order to gently extract color, spice and fruit characters, while mitigating harsher tannins. The fruit is punched down between 1 and 3 times per day depending on the stage of fermentation and character of the lot. The Seguin Moreau Icone barrel adds a smoky mushroom while the Marcel Cadet barrel fills out the middle with its classic richness. The wine is racked in March to blend barrel flavors and clarify then put back to barrel to soften the rich tannins before bottling in July of 2023. Production of this Pinot Noir was limited with only 416 cases produced.

This decadent wine exudes richness and complexity right away in the nose, leading with dried cranberry and black cherry enrobed in herbs de Provence and redwood duff on a misty morning. The mouth follows through with waves of berry compote and fruit leather, lifted by bright acidity. Baking spices and black tea carry the finishing notes, riding on chewy but fine tannins.

WINE SPECTATOR SCORED THIS 93 POINTS SAYING:
“Ripe and enticing, with alluring flavors of raspberry, mulberry and blackberry fruit suavely infused with notes of black tea and singed anise, plus a mesquite hint. Offers a fleshy feel but doesn’t sacrifice tension through the savory and mineral-tinged finish.”