Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
Sourced from five blocks within this remarkable designated vineyard, this red is rich to the point of chewy. Fennel, balsamic, and distinct notes of black raspberry appear in the foreground as spiced cedar, espresso, and white pepper align in the shadows. The mouthfeel is not just sumptuous, it's regal.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Pinot Noir Dutton Ranch features dark, briary fruit with wafts of mushroom, earth and allspice, opening aromatically as it spends time in the glass. The medium-bodied palate is silky and mouthwatering with intense, gently earthy fruit, and it has a long, layered finish.
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Wine Spectator
A bold, frankly ripe style, with a big core of juicy raspberry, mulberry and cherry pâte de fruit notes liberally laced with licorice and rose petal accents. Shows a subtle mineral thread that adds nice tension on the sparkly finish. Drink now through 2030.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2021 Chappellet Dutton Ranch Pinot Noir is complex and expansive. TASTING NOTES: This wine has aromas and flavors of red and black fruits, aromatic spices, and tart strawberries. Serve with grilled lamb chops. (Tasted: May 20, 2023, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Enthusiast
Powerfully fruity and ripe tasting, this full-bodied wine brims with black cherries, dark plums and black currants while moderate tannins help balance the big, broad mouthfeel.
The Chappellets' romance with Pritchard Hill began when Donn and Molly Chappellet first glimpsed the mountain's spectacular vistas in the late 1960s. Inspired by the notion that Bacchus loves the hills, Donn and Molly followed the advice of legendary winemaker André Tchelistcheff and settled on the rocky eastern slopes of the Napa Valley. There, on the mountain’s serene and picturesque hillsides, the Chappellets established their home and winery, raising their children and cultivating the vineyards.
Since being founded by Donn and Molly in 1967, Chappellet has earned acclaim championing the robust power and complexity of wines crafted from mountain grapes. At the same time, Chappellet has helped to establish Pritchard Hill as one of California’s most revered winegrowing sites. To honor the mountain's rich, expressive character, the winemaking team focuses on creating extraordinary, age-worthy Cabernet Sauvignons that embody the intensity and finesse of fruit from Pritchard Hill.
While the Russian River Valley is a large appellation with multiple climate zones and soil types, it is best known for cool-climate varieties, with Pinot Noir as the most celebrated. The grapes benefit from a reliable late afternoon flow of Pacific Ocean fog through the Petaluma Gap and along the Russian River Valley that ensures slow and steady ripening and the preservation of grape acidity. Today many of California’s most highly regarded Pinot Noir vineyards are in the Russian River Valley, along with its sub-appellation, Green Valley.
Historically Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs had bright red fruit and delicate earthy, mineral notes. But changes in viticultural and winemaking practices have led to stylistic changes in some of the region’s wines. Adjustments to canopy management, among other techniques, have resulted in riper fruit and bolder wines as well. These show flavors of black cherry, blackberry, cola, spice and darker, loamy earth tones, accenting traditional Pinot Noir notes of strawberry, raspberry and light cherry.