Dutton Here, Dutton There, Dutton Everywhere!
by Denise Johnson
Dutton Ranch
When I was just a rookie in the wine business, oh so many years ago, I quickly learned that there were certain industry "buzz" words that helped to sell wine. One of these was the use of the name "Dutton Ranch" in conjunction with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. It seemed that a great many wineries were flaunting this name "Dutton Ranch", with Kistler Vineyards leading the pack. Exactly where was this "Dutton Ranch" vineyard, and how big could it be?
At the end of April, all my questions were answered. I was invited to the first Green Valley Wine Symposium (Green Valley being a sub-appellation of Russian River Valley) and the first order of business was a Sunday night barbecue at the Dutton Ranch "Shop" vineyard property, hosted by four generations of the Dutton family.
History
Warren and Gail Dutton purchased their first parcel of land over 35 years ago near the little town of Graton. The very cool property was planted to grapes and apples. Today, the Dutton family farms over 1,150 acres of grapes and 150 acres of apples, all within the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast appellations. Although Warren Dutton died of a heart attack in 2001, his sons Steve and Joe carry on in the family business, and now there is a young team of grandchildren (so cute clearing plates at the BBQ!) that will most likely carry on the family tradition. The Dutton family sells grapes to 58 different wineries in California, 20 of which use the "Dutton Ranch" designation on their label!
Two wineries are different from the rest. They are wineries that are owned and operated by the two Dutton sons, Steve and Joe. I had the unique opportunity to taste current and upcoming releases from these two properties, and listen to the philosophies of the owners and winemakers of each.
The Wines
The Napa Valley Winery Exchange has carried the wines of Dutton-Goldfield Winery for several years. The partnership between Steve Dutton and Dan Goldfield was formed in 1998, with a focus on limited production Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines made with grapes from Dutton's finest vineyards. Winemaker Dan Goldfield brought with him a Master's degree in Enology and experience at Robert Mondavi, Schramsberg, La Crema and Hartford Court. Dan produces wines that reflect the natural tendencies of the area: crisp, well-structured wines that display the complexity, balance and intensity that the partners believe are key to world-class wines. The Dutton-Goldfield Winery wines are crafted using traditional techniques such as barrel and malolactic fermentation for the Chardonnay and open top fermentation for the Pinot Noir. There is seldom anything "shy" about a wine made by Dan Goldfield. His wines are flavor bombs.
Dutton Estate is the winery venture of younger brother, Joe. In the late 1990s his venture began, under the original name of Sebastopol-Dutton Estate. Winemaker Merry Edwards was the consulting enologist and in 2001 winemaker Mat Gustafson joined her team, taking over full winemaking responsibilities in 2002. Mat has experience in just about every facet of the wine business. His positions are too numerous to mention so let's just say that Mat's destiny was to become a wine maker and after a two year stint in the cellar at Oakville Ranch Winery, Mat took his passion to the next level at Dutton Estate. Mat is dedicated to low-input winemaking techniques. I personally feel his wines have a particularly elegant and polished style and finish. Mat is committed to Burgundian and Rhone varietals and plans to make some of the best wines in Sonoma. An interesting quote from this winemaker (which clearly also applies to the Dutton-Goldfield wines) "grape sources are never an issue!".
Mat Gustafson also produces wine under his own label, Paul Mathew. His second release of Russian River Valley Pinot Noir from the 2003 vintage is featured as one of our Twelve Picks. With a total case production of 287 cases, there is not a lot of this wine and I urge you to snap some up before it's gone. It is a steal at $26.95 per bottle.
NVWE Offering
The wines of Dutton-Goldfield Winery and Dutton Estate that we currently have available are listed below. Case production on these wines ranges from a low of 149 cases to a high of 310 cases, thus there is a six bottle limit on each of these wines. A simple click on each wine can provide you with a full description of it, or you could call me and I will personally describe them to you! I can also send you lots of written information about the important wine regions of the Russian River Valley and Green Valley. Let me just say that after having tasted through literally hundreds of wines from these regions in the last six months, that Dan Goldfield and Mat Gustafson are among my favorite winemakers in California!