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Dutton-Goldfield Fox Den Vineyard Pinot Noir
Green Valley of Russian River Valley, California
Tasting Notes
Lifted aromas in the nose lead with bright sweet black cherry framed in sandalwood and floral notes. The mouth is dense and vibrant with strawberry compote backed up with forest floor and a savory herbal note that adds complexity. Firm but fine tannins carry fruit and spice to a long finish.
Food Pairings
Play up the fruit and herb notes with similar flavors, and the plush texture with richer dishes, like duck breasts with sour cherry and thyme, pancetta wrapped turkey, or grilled skirt steak with peaches. For cheeses, a Manchego, gruyere, or taleggio would make nice matches.
Vintage Notes
The 2021 season treated us to a mild year without any heat spikes, allowing us to hang our Fox Den vineyard until it was its peak of ripeness. The wines from this vintage share a juicy quality and reflect their vineyards well. Similar to 2019, the texture veers to rich satin this vintage.
Winemaking Notes
At Dutton-Goldfield, our pinot is hand sorted and destemmed into small open top fermenters and the must is then cold-soaked for 5 days to gently extract color, spice and fruit characters, while mitigating harsher tannins. The three blocks at Fox Den were fermented and barreled separately to optimize what we most love about each, then blended to our tastes in May of 2022. The core of the 2021 is an equal mix of the 667 and 776, along with and a touch of 115. One of the pleasures of the Spring blending is getting to hone barrel choices. Fox Den is all about the floral notes of Remond Troncais, while Taransaud holds down the bass tones, and Rousseau adds structure. The wine was bottled in early Spring 2023 after 18 months in oak.
Open top fermentation, cold soak, punch down
Barrel aged 18 months in French oak (55% new barrels)
Vineyard Notes
Fox Den Vineyard is perched on top of Stoetz Ridge, at the western border of Green Valley and just above the town of Occidental. The Goldridge sandy loam soil here is extremely sandy since this ridge is old pushed-up sea bottom, which makes for low vigor vines, slow ripening, and beautifully floral and fruit driven wine. Here on the hill, it’s frequently a touch warmer than the bottom of the valley, but it’s still always among the last harvested and highest in natural acidity of our pinots. Dan and Steve planted the spot together in 2002, and Dan has been crafting the wine since 2004. The eight acres is split into three clones: 667 for vivid fruit, 777 for chewy tannins and 115 for brightness and floral aromatics. For the vineyard designated wine, the exact blend between them will vary each year, but the result is always a wine with sweet, lush cherry/strawberry fruit and great natural acidity. This beautiful site is the home of Ed and Sue Smith, old friends who now lovingly oversee their 8 acres of beautifully farmed fruit.
Technical Info
Alcohol: 14.1%
TA: 6.1 g/L
pH: 3.59
Tasting Notes
The mild 2019 season let our Fox Den vineyard hang relatively long, which imbued the wine with a gorgeous plush satin texture surrounding its concentrated red fruit flavors. From first sniff, a lusciousness and sense of depth comes through. Strawberry compote aromas are edged in pretty floral notes of violets and lavender, with an interesting savory thyme note carrying the bottom tones. The mouth is decadently rich, yet pure and vibrant, with candied raspberry leading the intense juiciness. Fine-grained tannins carry the lengthy finish, ending in berry with a black tea earthiness. Play up the fruit and herb notes with similar flavors, and the plush texture with richer dishes, like duck breasts with sour cherry and thyme, pancetta wrapped turkey, or grilled skirt steak with peaches. For cheeses, a Manchego, gruyere, or taleggio would make nice matches.
Food Pairings
Riff off the satiny theme with your food pairings, with dishes like duck confit, sweetbreads, pulled pork, and seared tuna. For cheese pairings, match the sweet/tart nature of the wine with a creamy goat cheese, Kaseri, or Bellwether Farm’s San Andreas.
Vineyard Notes
Fox Den Vineyard is perched on top of Stoetz Ridge, at the western border of Green Valley and just above the town of Occidental. The Goldridge sandy loam soil here is extremely sandy since this ridge is old pushed-up sea bottom, which makes for low vigor vines, slow ripening, and beautifully floral and fruit driven wine. Here on the hill, it’s frequently a touch warmer than the bottom of the valley, but it’s still always among the last harvested and highest in natural acidity of our pinots. Dan and Steve planted the spot together in 2002, and Dan has been crafting the wine since 2004. The eight acres is split into three clones: 667 for vivid fruit, 777 for chewy tannins and 115 for brightness and floral aromatics. For the vineyard designated wine, the exact blend between them will vary each year, but the result is always a wine with sweet, lush cherry/strawberry fruit and great natural acidity. This beautiful site is the home of Ed and Sue Smith, old friends who now lovingly oversee their 8 acres of beautifully farmed fruit.
Technical Info
Alcohol: 14.1%
TA: 6.20 g/L
pH: 3.45
Open top fermentation, cold soak, punch down
Barrel Aging: Aged 17 months in French oak (55% new barrels)
Winemaker: Dan Goldfield
Cases Produced: 438
Tasting Notes
The long 2018 season imparted a great density to our Fox Den Pinot Noir. While we usually think silk when drinking and describing the texture of this wine, this vintage ranges more to satin. In the nose, a mix of red fruits burst into the lead, with sweet raspberry and strawberry interlaced with baking spices. The mouth has a wonderful sweet/tart interplay, dancing from Bing cherry to dried cranberry to alpine strawberry, garnished by cinnamon and nutmeg. The extra bit of weight gives it an especially lengthy finish.
Food Pairings
Riff off the satiny theme with your food pairings, with dishes like duck confit, sweetbreads, pulled pork, and seared tuna. For cheese pairings, match the sweet/tart nature of the wine with a creamy goat cheese, Kaseri, or Bellwether Farm’s San Andreas.
Vineyard Notes
Fox Den Vineyard is perched on top of Stoetz Ridge, at the western border of Green Valley and just above the town of Occidental. The Goldridge sandy loam soil here is extremely sandy since this ridge is old pushed-up sea bottom, which makes for low vigor vines, slow ripening, and beautifully floral and fruit driven wine. Here on the hill, it’s frequently a touch warmer than the bottom of the valley, but it’s still always among the last harvested and highest in natural acidity of our pinots. Dan and Steve planted the spot together in 2002, and Dan has been crafting the wine since 2004. The eight acres is split into three clones: 667 for vivid fruit, 777 for chewy tannins and 115 for brightness and floral aromatics. For the vineyard designated wine, the exact blend between them will vary each year, but the result is always a wine with sweet, lush cherry/strawberry fruit and great natural acidity. This beautiful site is the home of Ed and Sue Smith, old friends who now lovingly oversee their 8 acres of beautifully farmed fruit.
Technical Info
Alcohol: 13.8% Ta: 6.7 g/L pH: 3.43 Open top fermentation, cold soak, punch down Barrel Aging: Aged 17 months in French oak (55% new barrels) Winemaker: Dan Goldfield Cases Produced: 438
Tasting Notes
Our 2017 vintage of Fox Den is an especially expressive interpretation of the vineyard, giving us a little more of everything we love in this site. The wound up energy of the wine shows right away in the saturated red raspberry, strawberry jam, and berry blossom nose. There’s a lifted quality and great liveliness to the aromas that keeps your nose diving back into the glass. With time, savory rhubarb notes reveal themselves, adding extra depth. Luscious high-toned strawberry spreads across your palate, filling your mouth with its candied richness. As always, the fine grained tannins carry this fruit on a silky ride to a lip-smacking finish.
Food Pairings
This texture begs for similarly silky foods to accompany it, such as slow-cooked salmon, braised chicken, and scalloped sweet potatoes, or cheeses like burrata or Havarti.
Winemaking Notes
At Dutton-Goldfield, our pinot is hand sorted and destemmed into small open top fermenters and the must is then cold-soaked for 5 days to gently extract color, spice and fruit characters, while mitigating harsher tannins. The three blocks at Fox Den were fermented and barreled separately to optimize what we most love about each, then blended to our tastes in March of 2018. The core of the 2017 is the plush, more strawberry 777, then half as much of the blackberry, focused 667 clone. One of the pleasures of the spring blending is getting to hone barrel choices. Fox Den is all about the floral notes of Remond Trancais, but Taransaud holds down the bass tones, and Rousseau adds structure. The wine was bottled in late March 2019 after 17 months in oak.
Vineyard Notes
Fox Den Vineyard is perched on top of Stoetz Ridge, at the western border of Green Valley and just above the town of Occidental. The Goldridge sandy loam soil here is extremely sandy since this ridge is old pushed-up sea bottom, which makes for low vigor vines, slow ripening, and beautifully floral and fruit driven wine. Here on the hill, it’s frequently a touch warmer than the bottom of the valley, but it’s still always among the last harvested and highest in natural acidity of our pinots. Dan and Steve planted the spot together in 2002, and Dan has been crafting the wine since 2004. The eight acres is split into three clones: 667 for vivid fruit, 777 for chewy tannins and 115 for brightness and floral aromatics. For the vineyard designated wine, the exact blend between them will vary each year, but the result is always a wine with sweet, lush cherry/strawberry fruit and great natural acidity. This beautiful site is the home of Ed and Sue Smith, old friends who now lovingly oversee their 8 acres of beautifully farmed fruit.
Technical Info
Alcohol: 13.8% Ta: 5.9 g/L pH: 3.41 Open top fermentation, cold soak, punch down Barrel Aging: Aged 17 months in French oak (55% new barrels) Winemaker: Dan Goldfield Cases Produced: 630
Tasting Notes
As with our other wines, the early start to the 2016 season gave our Fox Den Pinot Noir that perfect combination of brightness and richness. The wine is especially vibrant in both the nose and mouth this vintage, leading with vivid aromas of a mélange of red fruits—cherry, strawberry, and raspberry—with a pretty touch of rose petals and a savory note of rhubarb pie. Baking spice tones continue in the mouth, providing a backdrop to support a leading cast of luscious Bing cherry and Chambord. The texture is caressing and smooth, its fine tannins carrying the creamy strawberry shortcake finish to a delicious end. Any fish with a matching silky texture would make an excellent pairing, such as a mustard-crusted branzino, olive oil poached salmon, or steamed sea bass, as would a creamy cheese like Humboldt Fog.
Food Pairings
Any fish with a matching silky texture would make an excellent pairing, such as a mustard-crusted branzino, olive oil poached salmon, or steamed sea bass, as would a creamy cheese like Humboldt Fog.
Winemaking Notes
At Dutton-Goldfield, our pinot is hand sorted and destemmed into small open top fermenters and the must is then cold-soaked for 5 days to gently extract color, spice and fruit characters, while mitigating harsher tannins. The three blocks at Fox Den were fermented and barreled separately to optimize what we most love about each, then blended to our tastes in March of 2017. The core of the 2016 is the plush, more strawberry 777, then half as much of the blackberry, focused 667 clone. One of the pleasures of the spring blending is getting to hone barrel choices. Fox Den is all about the floral notes of Remond Trancais, but Taransaud holds down the bass tones, and Rousseau adds structure. The wine was bottled in April 2018 after 17 months in oak.
Vineyard Notes
Fox Den Vineyard is perched on top of Stoetz Ridge, at the western border of Green Valley and just above the town of Occidental. The Goldridge sandy loam soil here is extremely sandy since this ridge is old pushed-up sea bottom, which makes for low vigor vines, slow ripening, and beautifully floral and fruit driven wine. Here on the hill, it’s frequently a touch warmer than the bottom of the valley, but it’s still always among the last harvested and highest in natural acidity of our pinots. Dan and Steve planted the spot together in 2002, and Dan has been crafting the wine since 2004. The eight acres is split into three clones: 667 for vivid fruit, 777 for chewy tannins and 115 for brightness and floral aromatics. For the vineyard designated wine, the exact blend between them will vary each year, but the result is always a wine with sweet, lush cherry/strawberry fruit and great natural acidity.
Technical Info
Alcohol: 13.8% Ta: 5.7 g/L pH: 3.51 Barrel Aging: Aged 17 months in French oak (55% new barrels) Winemaker: Dan Goldfield Cases Produced: 767
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