Insights & ArticlesA Study of our Vineyards
“The vision of the winemaker starts in the field.”
We have the great privilege of farming small select parcels across more than two dozen very special vineyard sites.
It takes time, working with a vineyard, to discover its defining characteristics. Then, it takes even longer to use the right winemaking techniques and sensitivity to highlight those features in the wine. A lightness of touch in our winemaking allows us to achieve a more complex, multi-dimensional, “effortless” quality in our wines.
Over two decades, we’ve gained access to some truly legendary sites. And we’ve achieved close personal relationships with our growers. Our shared respect for the land, our dedication to the work, and our mutual respect for each other, carry through to the final product. We work with good people and we’re going to make some amazing wines.
From first pruning through to the day of harvest, we’re out there farming the land in a way that draws out the singularity of each parcel. We minimize our footprint in the vineyard, stay very close to the “ingredients” and let the vineyards speak for themselves.
MENCÍA MacIntyre Estate Vineyard
CHENIN BLANC MacIntyre Estate Vineyard
NAPA SOILS Haire Clay Loam Haire Loam
Insights & ArticlesHighland Divide:
Estate-Driven and Precisely Blended
“Highland Divide, for me, describes a very special zone that separates the valley floor of the Russian River from the Sonoma Coast. That’s really the tenderloin section of the Russian River Valley itself. I always find that we get our best grapes from this area.”
We firmly believe that each DuMOL wine tells an original story. These stories begin in the vineyard, some of which go back to the early 1980’s when our oldest vines were planted. They build upon that base with the narrative of each vintage, describing through taste, texture, and perfume the unique agricultural and climatic circumstances that we are presented with each year. The stories of our vineyard designates, cellar-worthy and beloved, end there. Each wine is molded by vintage, crafted in the vineyard, and stewarded through the winery to your table. Our Highland Divide wines however, have a different and more complex journey.

“A single-vineyard wine relies solely on the quality of fruit and the farming. That's also true in a blended wine, but a blended wine showcases the talents of the winemakers in putting pieces together and bringing out the very best of different lots.”

Highland Divide takes the story of vineyard and vintage a step further. It seeks to combine the stories of multiple vineyards in one vintage into a cohesive, precisely crafted blend of Estate-grown, high-density farmed fruit. The winemakers must taste through dozens of lots, small parcels of vines that each have distinctive characteristics that may add to the final product. To see the subtle changes that different vinification methods offer from one lot to the next requires experience, a keen sense of taste and smell, and more importantly, an end goal. That end goal is simple and an enormous challenge at the same time: create a product that exemplifies DuMOL’s history of making wines with clarity, depth, and elegance. A wine that tells our story.
“Year in and year out, we aim to make a Highland Divide Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that will showcase what the appellation brings as a whole. We are making wines that are from different vineyard sites that have different aspects that when put together make a very complete wine.”
When the picking, vinifying, blending and aging are complete, you have a wine that is greater than the sum of its parts, like any good story. Fruit-driven but still a classic DuMOL Estate wine, with intensity, savory elements, and a purity of flavor that is on par with any of our other bottlings. Always delicious to drink on release, but capable of extended aging if you choose. Highland Divide tells the collective story of DuMOL through vineyard, vintage, and winemaking. We hope you enjoy drinking it as much as we enjoyed making it.
Insights & ArticlesOur 2023 Summer Release

Working with DuMOL for over two decades—as a winemaker and partner—has given me some extraordinary opportunities and insights. Each vineyard we have the privilege of planting allows our team to flex our creative/experimental muscles and take our industry forward.
Our 10-acre MacIntyre Vineyard, northwest of Sebastopol, is a former organic, high-density apple orchard that features classic Goldridge soil with a top layer of “moondust,” extremely sandy/silty soils with low water-holding capacity and almost no clay. We planted this cool, east-facing hillside in 2016 with the expectation that it would produce intense wines of great clarity and poise. While most of the field was dedicated to our favorite rare field selections of Pinot Noir, I couldn’t resist reserving an acre for two experimental plantings.
Our Chenin Blanc project takes us “back to the future.” This classic white variety had a major presence in post-prohibition California when growers shifted away from table grapes to noble varieties--but then it fell out of fashion as Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc came to dominance. While early California Chenin Blanc vine selections featured large berries and clusters, the new Loire Valley French selection we planted produces small, concentrated berries. Planted in our cool coastal climate, this clone expresses a beautiful green apple character with an underpinning of mineral precision while displaying the honeyed richness of its Loire provenance. The wine’s freshness, poise and moderate alcohol level make it an exciting and promising new addition to our Sonoma Coast landscape.
As a red counterpart, our Mencía project takes its inspiration from the Castile and Léon region of Northwest Spain. Up until about 20 years ago, this was a relatively obscure indigenous regional grape variety. But once a few superb local producers started to cultivate the region’s older hillside vines, Mencía garnered the attention and respect it clearly deserves. I started seriously tasting these wines about a decade ago and love its blend of richness, vibrancy, and deep complexity. When by chance I discovered the first importation of Mencía cuttings were starting to be released to the industry, I took a punt on a half-acre planting. I think it’s ideally suited to the coolest areas of California if farmed precisely to “tame” the variety’s natural vigor and keep yields low. Without question, the 2021 vintage is our finest Mencía yet—the greatness of the 2021 overall vintage is readily apparent.
These experimental micro-plantings are close to our winegrowing hearts and it’s exciting to observe how our MacIntyre Estate expresses these varieties. Both ripen 3-4 weeks after Pinot Noir, so they can hang on the vine for an extended period post-veraison and build up beautiful richness and complexity with tempered alcohol levels thanks to the cool coastal growing conditions. Both wines will naturally become even richer, broader and more expressive of these lean sandy soils in years to come. In the meantime, the 2021 vintage is a huge success. If we consider (and drink!) the entire set of wines we crafted and will offer throughout the year, it’s hard to argue this isn’t our finest vintage ever.
-Andy Smith
to purchase wines join the list
Members, log in to view current allocations or contact us with questions.