Winemaker Notes
The wine has great lines: focused, driven, mineral-laden and pithy, with a level of cool-climate fruit intensity that is very rare. This level of quality and distinctive character is hard to achieve in a larger-production blended wine, but is a testament to our pedigreed vineyards, precise farming, twenty years’ experience, and patient, sensitive craftsmanship.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Chardonnay Wester Reach was barrel fermented and aged 12 months on the lees in 30% new oak. It has a mineral-driven nose of petrichor, honey, toasted almonds, Golden apple, white peach and notions of nectarine and hay. Light to medium-bodied, it's intensely fruited and packs in the savory layers and expressive honeyed notions, lifted by juicy acidity and finishing long, intense and focused. Lovely! 3,500 cases produced.
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Wine Enthusiast
This beautifully vibrant, fresh white is made from five vineyard sites, several of them estate, in addition to the Charles Heintz Vineyard in Occidental. Cool climate in nature and texture, it offers a whiff of matchstick and focused oak, with a lingering richness of honey, brioche and apple skin. Midpalate intensity evolves into a crisp, bright, stony finish.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Here, again, is a Chardonnay that is at once vibrant and long on incisive, very deep fruit, and it inclines to detailed sophistication from beginning to end with a teasing suggestion of succulence along with a nice sense of layered richness. It is a generous wine, yet it avoids weighty extravagance and is consistently lively and light on its feet, and, while there are more powerful offerings from which to choose, it is an exquisite, beautifully crafted wine that is sure to benefit from additional age even if it is thoroughly appealing now.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2017 Chardonnay Wester Reach comes from the Russian River Valley and is one of the wines that goes out into distribution. It has terrific notes of citrus and Meyer lemon, and hints of tart pineapple as well a medium-bodied, fresh, focused, incredibly pretty style on the palate. With bright acidity and plenty of vibrancy, it’s slightly more forward and fruit-driven compared to some of the other releases here. It’s a great introduction into the wines of this terrific estate.
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.