Winemaker Notes
The 2016 vintage of their Emerald Ridge Pinot is especially focused and lively, beautifully showcasing its Green Valley roots. Bright cherry, cigar box, and rhubarb pie aromas lead the way, followed by darker scents of blueberry, blackberry, and raspberry blossom after time in the glass. Savory notes of thyme, cardamom and clove provide an extra layer of complexity. The mouth is full of sweet cherry/berry plush fruit, carried on firm tannins, giving the wine that lusciousness that keeps you coming back for more. Dark cherry pie with nutmeg spice echoes in the energetic finish.
The salty, tangy notes of an aged goat cheddar bring out the sweet fruit in the wine, as does a savory smoky glazed ham, or mushroom bruschetta.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Full and rather silky, in spite of the generous tannins, this is a serious Russian River Valley pinot noir with ripe sour cherries and delicate spice. Long, fresh and minerally finish that suggests this has a good future. Drink or hold.
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Jeb Dunnuck
More smoked earth, graphite, and earthy notes emerge from the 2016 Pinot Noir Emerald Ridge Vineyard. Aged 16 months in 50% new oak, it's sweetly fruited and concentrated on the palate, with good acidity, solid overall balance, and a clean finish. It needs a year or two to let the smoky oak integrated yet it's rock solid. Rating: 91+
Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are the mainstays of the Dutton-Goldfield production. Using fruit from carefully chosen vineyards, Dan Goldfield produces wine that reflects 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.
Dutton-Goldfield Winery's first releases were a Dutton Ranch Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the 1998 vintage. Today Dan and Steve continue to produce Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from Dutton Ranch plantings, numerous vineyard-designated wines, as well as small lots of old vine Zinfandel and hillside Syrah. The Dutton-Goldfield wines are crafted using traditional techniques such as barrel and malolactic fermentation for the Chardonnay, and open top fermentation for the Pinot Noir.
The winery is a partnership of friends, colleagues, neighbors and families. The wines reflect this spectacular part of Northern California where the grapes are grown, the superb quality of fruit from perfectly placed and planted vineyards, and the work of an appreciative winemaker.
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.