Winemaker Notes
Aromas of raspberry blossoms and a basket of summer berries and cherries lead the wine. Notes of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg add their spicy/savory accent to the sweet berries, giving the wine an added layer of interest. The bright summer pie theme continues in the mouth, with black raspberries riding on a satiny texture of plush tannins. A dusky sandalwood spice chimes in on the lengthy finish. Our Emerald Ridge Vineyard wasn’t hit quite so hard by the wet May weather, so our yields were better than at many of our Pinot sites closer to the coast, but was still down about 20% from 2014. That extra concentration of energy t fewer grapes gave us an even more packed Emerald Ridge Pinot this vintage.
The bright and dark nature of the wine make it a great match for dishes like roasted pheasant, gnocchi in a pesto sauce, or grilled swordfish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
High toned in a rose petal aroma, the palate of this wine is bright in acidity yet medium in build and complex. The concentration of the vintage is on full display in velvety layers of raspberry and strawberry coated in nutmeg and Asian spice.
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James Suckling
From a single vineyard in the Green Valley (this is a cooler portion of the Russian River Valley), the 2015 Pinot Noir Dutton Ranch Emerald Ridge Vineyard spent 16 months in 50% new French oak. Deep ruby-colored with terrific notes of black raspberries, strawberries, sassafras, bay leaves, and flowers, it’s medium-bodied, lightly textured, yet fresh and focused on the palate, with good acidity and fine tannin. This complex, nuanced 2015 is capable of lasting for a decade.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Situated on the foggier and colder western edge of the Russian River Valley, almost abutting the Sonoma Coast appellation, Green Valley is one of California’s most reputable Chardonnay and Pinot noir producing regions. It is also a wonderful source of sparkling wines made from these varieties.
Goldridge soils abound throughout the Green Valley appellation. This fine, dark, sandy loam and fractured sandstone is derived from the remains of ancient inland seabeds dating back three to five million years. It is valuable for high quality grape growing because of its excellent drainage and low fertility.