The individual lots are barrel fermented using a combination of indigenous and inoculated yeast strains. They undergo malolactic full fermentation, and the lees are stirred twice monthly through the winter. The blend is assembled, with the primary lees, in early spring, and continues to age in French oak barrels through the summer. We at Dutton-Goldfield choose our barrels to emphasize the fruit and vineyard characteristics of the wine, rather than showcasing the oak itself. We love the ginger/nutmeg overtones of Seguin Moreau, and the buttercream components of Fouquet barrels to compliment the citrus focus of this wine. The wine is bottled in early Fall after approximately ten months in barrel.

100% Chardonnay Alcohol:  13.8% Ta:  6.6 g/L pH:  3.41 Barrel Aging:  Aged 10 months in French oak barrels (40% new barrels)

Dutton Ranch farms over eighty unique, separate vineyards located in the coolest areas of the Russian River Valley, primarily in the Green Valley appellation. Dan and Steve select their favorite Dutton Ranch vineyards to craft a wine reflecting our vision of classic Russian River Valley Chardonnay. The vineyards we choose are based on our desire to offer wines with fruit intensity, richness and great acid structure, even after full barrel and malolactic fermentation. The heart of our benchmark Chardonnay (75% between them) is our old vine (greater than 30 years), old clone vineyards located in the cold heart of Green Valley: Mill Station, Sullivan, and Walker Hill. They contribute a focused citrus backbone, lemon/lime/ tropical fruit, and mineral overtones to this offering. George Jewell and Dutton Hill provide classic, bright crystalline fruit, while our Dijon clone 95 block of JJJS, in the cold Valley by the old Dutton shop, rounds out the wine with its unctuous pear fruit and creamy mouth feel.

Since Dutton Ranch prunes their chardonnay vineyards first, they start their growing season early and were thankfully already a ways into set when the spring rains hit, so didn’t see as dramatic an impact to yields as our other vineyards did this vintage. Even so, the crop was down a bit from the previous few vintages, giving the 2015 wines great intensity. At the same time, there’s a particular focus to our whites this year that we love about our neighborhood.

The individual lots are barrel fermented using a combination of indigenous and inoculated yeast strains. They undergo malolactic full fermentation, and the lees are stirred twice monthly through the winter. The blend is assembled, with the primary lees, in early spring, and continues to age in French oak barrels through the summer. We at Dutton-Goldfield choose our barrels to emphasize the fruit and vineyard characteristics of the wine, rather than showcasing the oak itself. We love the ginger/nutmeg overtones of Seguin Moreau, and the buttercream components of Fouquet barrels to compliment the citrus focus of this wine. The wine is bottled in early Fall after approximately ten months in barrel.

Alcohol:  13.8% Ta:  6.6 g/L pH:  3.43 Barrel Aging:  Aged 10 months in French oak barrels (40% new barrels)

Dutton Ranch farms over eighty unique, separate vineyards located in the coolest areas of the Russian River Valley, primarily in the Green Valley appellation. Dan and Steve select their favorite Dutton Ranch vineyards to craft a wine reflecting our vision of classic Russian River Valley Chardonnay. The vineyards we choose are based on our desire to offer wines with fruit intensity, richness and great acid structure, even after full barrel and malolactic fermentation. The heart of our benchmark Chardonnay (75% between them) is our old vine (greater than 30 years), old clone vineyards located in the cold heart of Green Valley: Mill Station, Sullivan, Walker Hill and Rued. They contribute a focused citrus backbone, lemon/lime/tropical fruit, and mineral overtones to this offering. Morelli Lane Vineyard, planted to the Hyde clone of Chardonnay, is located high on top of Stoetz Ridge and contributes notes of floral stone fruit to the wine. Our Dijon clone 95 block of JJJS, in the cold Valley by the old Dutton shop, rounds out the wine with its unctuous pear fruit and creamy mouth feel.

2014 was another generous growing season in the Russian River Valley, with picture-perfect weather from spring through harvest. We brought in our blocks for the Dutton Ranch Chardonnay over the course of five weeks, from the warmer Morelli Lane site on August 28 to the extremely cool and low-lying Mill Station Vineyard on October 1. The vintage again gave us just what we want for this expression of the appellation: bright fruit, balance, and a solid backbone.

The individual lots are barrel fermented using a combination of indigenous and inoculated yeast strains. They undergo malolactic full fermentation, and the lees are stirred twice monthly through the winter. The blend is assembled, with the primary lees, in early spring, and continues to age in French oak barrels through the summer. We at Dutton-Goldfield choose our barrels to emphasize the fruit and vineyard characteristics of the wine, rather than showcasing the oak itself. We love the ginger/nutmeg overtones of Seguin Moreau, and the buttercream components of Fouquet barrels to compliment the citrus focus of this wine. The wine is bottled in early Fall after approximately ten months in barrel.

Alcohol:  13.8% Ta:  6.4 g/L pH:  3.44 Barrel Aging:  Aged 10 months in French oak barrels (40% new barrels)

Dutton Ranch farms over eighty unique, separate vineyards located in the coolest areas of the Russian River Valley, primarily in the Green Valley appellation. Dan and Steve select their favorite Dutton Ranch vineyards to craft a wine reflecting our vision of classic Russian River Valley Chardonnay. The vineyards we choose are based on our desire to offer wines with fruit intensity, richness and great acid structure, even after full barrel and malolactic fermentation. The heart of our benchmark Chardonnay (75% between them) is our old vine (greater than 30 years), old clone vineyards located in the cold heart of Green Valley: Mill Station, Sullivan, Walker Hill and Rued. They contribute a focused citrus backbone, lemon/lime/tropical fruit, and mineral overtones to this offering. Morelli Lane Vineyard, planted to the Hyde clone of Chardonnay, is located high on top of Stoetz Ridge and contributes notes of floral stone fruit to the wine. Our Dijon clone 95 block of JJJS, in the cold Valley by the old Dutton shop, rounds out the wine with its unctuous pear fruit and creamy mouth feel.