Winemaker Notes
White flowers, sharp flint, lemongrass and mint combine on an edgy tense aromatic stage. There’s lime juice, chamomile and an edge of guava. The palate is immediately deep and intense with briny citrus oil and steely drive opening to richer exotic fruits. Penetrating minerals fill the mouth and layers emerge. Tense acidity cuts the richness with grapefruit and tangerine intensity.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
A bright straw yellow hue, the 2022 Chardonnay Charles Heintz Vineyard Isobel has a pretty and expressive nose of ripe pear, flinty lift, candied green apples, and lime. Savory and inviting, the palate offers medium to full body but has great persistence on its long finish. This wine provided a remarkable to start to my tasting of these wines from DuMOL. Drink 2024-2036.
Rating: 95+ -
Vinous
The 2022 Chardonnay Isobel Charles Heintz Vineyard is classy and elegant from the very first taste. Pear, lime tropical fruit, mint, white pepper and passion fruit are all beautifully lifted. This translucent, expressive Chardonnay has so much to offer. Clean mineral notes extend the finish. It's a gorgeous wine from DuMOL.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Chardonnay Isobel Charles Heintz Vineyard was harvested on September 4, just before the Labor Day heat wave began. It has inviting aromas of yellow apples, pie crust, crème fraîche, saline and matchstick. The light-bodied palate is silky and seamless with a balance of taut acidity and ripe orchard fruit, and it has a long, honey-nut finish. It's youthfully coiled and will benefit from 2-3+ years in bottle.
Rating: 93+ -
Wine Spectator
Starts off with pure fruit flavors of star fruit, lemon and tangerine that are juicy and leap out of the glass, expanding to additional notes of salted Marcona almond, lemon verbena and lemon basil on a fleshy yet vibrant body.
Respect for the land
DuMOL is a “vineyard up” winery with a fully integrated approach to winegrowing and winemaking. DuMOL planted its high-density estate vineyards and has farmed many of California’s most renowned vineyards for more than two decades.
Commitment to craft
DuMOL sticks to what works and is focused on the fundamentals, finding inspiration in master, visionary producers around the world as DuMOL continually hones its craft—never imitating, ever refining.
Connected on a personal level
This is a project that comes from who the DuMOL team is and what they love. A deep connection is paramount: to the land, the wines, and the customers.
Heritage and experience
Founded in 1996, DuMOL is a latter-day pioneer in the Russian River Valley. Winemaker, Viticulturist and Partner, Andy Smith, farmed the region for nearly a decade before joining in 1999, and Associate Winemakers Julie Cooper and Jenna Davis, and Cellar Master Jaime Eufracio, have over 40 years combined experience at DuMOL.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
A standout region for its decidedly Californian take on Burgundian varieties, the Russian River Valley is named for the eponymous river that flows through it. While there are warm pockets of the AVA, it is mostly a cool-climate growing region thanks to breezes and fog from the nearby Pacific Ocean.
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir reign supreme in Russian River, with the best examples demonstrating a unique combination of richness and restraint. The cool weather makes Russian River an ideal AVA for sparkling wine production, utilizing the aforementioned varieties. Zinfandel also performs exceptionally well here. Within the Russian River Valley lie the smaller appellations of Chalk Hill and Green Valley. The former, farther from the ocean, is relatively warm, with a focus on red and white Bordeaux varieties. The latter is the coolest, foggiest parcel of the Russian River Valley and is responsible for outstanding Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.