Russian River Valley, Sonoma, California (5) DuMol
Website: https://dumol.com/
I visited DuMol on a beautiful July day, as the 2024 growing season was well underway and the first signs of veraison were to be seen on some of the blocks. Here, Andy Smith (who I visited with), assisted by winemaker Jenna Davis, is making some of the Russian River Valleys best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Andy comes from Edinburgh, and he worked in Napa in the mid-1990s and then went to study wine at Lincoln in New Zealand, after which he worked with Neil McCullum at Dry River for two vintages. He the returned from California and worked at Littorai with Ted Lemon in 1998, followed by a spell with consultant winemaker Paul Hobbs, where he made the DuMol wines in 1999 and 2000, leaving to take a partnership at DuMol in 2001.
The first vintage of DuMol was back in 1996 when it was a negociant business. Now it has a lot of estate vineyards, plus vineyards that it farms on long-term leases, with a little bit of negociant fruit. DuMol currently make a wide range of single-vineyard wines from around the Russian River Valley, with a focus on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, although they also make a few other fun things that get sold to the members of their mailing list.
We walked the vines: they have 65 acres near the tasting room in the heart of Green Valley, split into 6 parcels. The Bressay estate is where they have their highest vine density, and this is 20 acres planted at 3630 vines/acre (9000 vines/hectare), with tight spacing of 1.3 m x 0.75 m. There are both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir here, and these vines were planted in 2004 and 2005. The soils are classic Goldridge sandy loams, and they can dry farm here with Riparia rootstocks.
The close planting is a DuMol thing, and there are two reasons for it. ‘We are not asking each vine to do too much,’ says Andy, ‘so there is natural balance here. It’s very even and we don’t have to crop thin.’ The other advantage is the close planting and relatively high canopies means that the vines shade each other a bit, and shade the soil, keeping temperatures down.
They don’t really work with clones, but instead do their own massal selection from older clones. ‘We work with older selections,’ says Andy. ‘We are onto our fifth selection of Calera now: when we plant a new parcel we do a selection from the fourth selection.’ When they plant, they first plant rootstock, grow it for a minimum of two years, and then graft onto this. After 6 or 7 years they can wean the vines off irrigation in the blocks that have a sandstone base, which can act like limestone in storing water to release to the vines during the summer.
Farming is organic, but not certified. In terms of disease, Pierce’s disease can be a problem, and comes in cycles. Climate change means that the winters up here are no longer too cold for the vector, the glassy winged sharpshooter. They spray kaolin, a fine clay, on the vines in sprint to deter this sap feeder.
The Chardonnay block here is surrounded by trees such as laurel, bay, redwood and larch, and these produce aromatic characters in the wines.
When Andy started working with DuMol in the late 1990s, there was a lot of competition for grapes, and they had to work hard to get on the ladder. But Andy had previously worked in Napa and knew Larry Hyde, who offered him some of his famous Chardonnay. Hyde and Hudson are the two Napa vineyards he works with now, with the rest of the vineyard sources being in Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast.
THE WINES
Chardonnay winemaking
The grapes are nigh harvested and then there a long pressing: they don’t make any press cuts, and press slowly and fully, rotating the drum very little. They use a Willmes press and get moderate phenolic pick up. This results in more tannin in the wines and they age well, and it doesn’t alter pH because they don’t macerate. The juice is settled overnight then goes to barrel with no SO2 additions. Barrels: 25% new oak, artisan coopers, thicker staves, medium toast. Yeasts take five days or so to wake up, and then fermentation is 3 weeks. Ferments get hot. The wine goes dry and then malolactic is inoculated, they finish end of April and then add SO2 for the first time. Don’t stir the lees. Wines finish off in stainless steel for 6 months and they settle naturally. They don’t cold stabilize or filter the wines.
DuMol Highland Divide Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2022 Sonoma County, California
From leased vineyards, Dutton Ranch: Morelli and Gentoff vineyards, planted in 1995 with Mount Eden and 2007 with Hyde Wente respectively. Green Valley high elevation Chardonnay, citrussy and mineral with lovely acidity. Has nice aromas of pear and peach with some subtle herby detail. The palate is bright and linear with restrained richness. Very stylish and complete. 94/100
DuMol Lorenzo Vineyard Chardonnay 2022 Russian River Valley
Planted 1974, pre-clonal. More clay in the soil, old vines, dry farmed. Lots of aromatic trees in the area. This is beautifully expressive with pear, melon and peach, as well as some complex warm herbal hints. There’s some lovely complexity on the palate with bright lemon, some mandarin, and a touch of peach and crystalline citrus fruits. Finely textured. So amazing. 95/100
DuMol Chloe Chardonnay 2020 Russian River Valley
This is a blend of vineyards, and is made in a slightly bolder Californian style, underpinned with the acidity from the estate vineyard. Ripe and inviting with sweet pear and peach, but also some fine citrus notes. Very textural with a sweet fruit core and some leesy notes but also a saline twist on the finish, which has warm spices. Nicely textural with lots of fruit. 94/100
DuMol Estate Chardonnay 2013 Russian River Valley (magnum)
2 acres at the top, high density, Mount Eden and Wente clones. New oak was higher then at 40%. Complex herbal hints with some mint and exotic garrigue-like herbs (air-roir from trees and the shading) as well as pear and peach. There’s a hint of cabbage (nice) and some subtle toast character, as well as crystalline citrus fruit. Beginning to develop, but still youthful, finishing spicy. Beautiful. 95/100
Pinot winemaking: They don’t cold soak. The grapes are picked at night and come in at about 13 C. Takes about 5 days for fermentation to start, and they just use dry ice on the tank. They do few punchdowns: typically, four total. They refer short gentle pumpovers. The grapes give up what they have easily. Three week maceration on skins.
Du Mol Highland Divide Pinot Noir 2022 Russian River Valley
A blend of three estate vineyards, high density plantings, massale selections with a bit of Dijon 943. Blend of 8 fermentations, averages 15% whole cluster. 30% new oak, light and medium toast, 11 months in barrel, three months in stainless steel, no filtration. Essence of Green Valley style. Beautiful floral aromatics with sweet cherries, warm spices, fine green leafy notes. The palate is ripe and supple with smooth cherry and berry fruits. Nice concentration here with a silkiness to the palate but also some fine structure. So satisfying: broad but restrained. 95/100
DuMol Finn Pinot Noir 2022 Russian River Valley
Not a single vineyard, but it’s their most celebrated wine. Blend of Bressay Block 7 (Calera) on goldridge sand, and a leased vineyard with more clay in the soil (33%). Fully destemmed and free run only. 700 cases. Dark and brooding on the nose with black cherries and spice. There’s a hint of undergrowth. The palate has great concentration with smooth, sweet cherry and berry fruit, a hint of apricot, and then some well integrated tannic structure. This has a hint of earth and iodine in the mix with great depth of flavour and lovely silkiness to the fruit. It’s enjoyable but there’s potential for ageing. The concentration here is amazing. 96/100
DuMol Flax Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022 Russian River Valley
On volcanic hillsides. Two older blocks planted in 1996 to Pommard (UCD4). These are red volcanic clays that are friable. Tough soils: the challenge is maintaining elegance. Light extraction. Classic Middle Reach, overlooking the river. This is the stretch of Russian River that made California Pinot famous in the first place: the miracle mile. This is concentrated, lush but well defined with a core of sweet red cherry fruit and some wild strawberry, but also nice structure and balance, showing a mineral twist and some raspberry brightness, with great definition. This is a beautiful wine. 96/100
DuMol Jentoft Vineyard Ryan Pinot Noir 2018 Russian River Valley
Planted it with the Duttons in 2007 using their vine material. Shallow hillside soils (2 ft) surrounded by dense vegetation. Swan Calera massale mix. This is dark, brooding and complex with some spice and meat, as well as olive, and then rich black cherry and blackberry notes. Complex, quite structured and layered with a core of sweet fruit and some fine spicy framing. There’s a lot happening here, with density and richness, but also balance. Has a nice herbal, olive, iodine savoury complexity. 95/100
DuMol Dutton-Jentoft Vineyard Ryan Pinot Noir 2020 Russian River Valley
Grapes picked 2-3 days after the fire started (15 miles away, hadn’t descended, but after 7-8 days it did and the game was up). Lovely balance between the sweet and the savoury with raspberry and cherry fruit as well as some olive savouriness and fine spices. Nice detail here with lovely black cherry and strawberry notes, and nice fine structure. Has a bit of crunch. On the finish there’s a hint of mint and dried herbs. Very fine. 95/100
