Winemaker Notes
You can tell on first sniff that this is going to be an intense wine. The nose commands your attention, offering packed aromas of blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, and cherry, all coming through in waves one after the other. Spicy sandalwood and cinnamon, and a sweet-earthy beetroot note provide a pillow that the fruit bowl lounges on top of. The cascade of berries continues in the mouth, expanding on your palate. A lasting impression of cherry compote continues to the lengthy finish. Firm but round tannins promise this will be an excellent candidate for the cellar, broadening with more time in the bottle.
Rich dishes like butterflied lamb or game birds with herbs or mushrooms would make a great counterpoint to the opulent fruit. For cheeses, go for a tangy sheep cheese like manchego.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Tangy and compelling, this is a complex, intensely earthy wine, with wisps of dried herb and fresh sea air. The palate offers a mix of orange, blueberry and raspberry, with persistent acidity. Baking spice, dried herb and forest floor accents meld with the rounded, supple tannins.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2017 Dutton Goldfield Emerald Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir basks in the glory of generous fruit and dusty earth. TASTING NOTES: This wine is sophisticated and alluring. Its dusty earth and complex, ripe fruit should pair it well with slices of a juicy, lightly-seasoned leg of lamb. (Tasted: September 9, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Spectator
Lively acidity backs pure-tasting red berry and currant flavors in this finely textured style. Minerally midpalate, with a long, sleek finish that features slate accents and hints of white pepper and dried sage. Drink now through 2024.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
The top bottlings of Dutton Goldfield Pinots are balanced wines of real sophistication and richness as this lovely effort so capably demonstrates, and, if now only hinting at layering to come, the new Emerald Ridge edition is a complete offering that hits all the right marks. It is moderately full, slightly supple in feel with extended, very lively, red cherry- and berry-like fruit in frame at all times, and it already has the velvety gleanings that are found in the best of its breed. Thoroughly satisfying even now, it is a wine well worth laying away for five or more years.
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.