Fall Release DuMOL Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir
2020

Winemaker’s Notes

This is a beautifully pure, supple, and characterful expression of our flagship Estate vineyard that immediately reminds me of the classic 2015 bottling, a wine that remains youthful, perfumed, and refined. These two low-yielding, early-harvest vintages share much in common so I expect this 2020 will have a long aging curve—twelve to fifteen years in a cool cellar should be no problem.

I particularly enjoy the transformation of the wine as it sits in the glass. Fresh, fruity, and bright at the outset, with air it deepens and darkens considerably to reveal a wonderful depth of flavor and its true pedigree. The wine’s prominent vineyard signature or “sense of place” is its core driving feature, and this character is both clearly defined and focused in the wine’s flavor and structure. It shows real authority and great authenticity.

Aromatically layered and complex with fresh raspberry and red cherry fruits, then rose petal and thyme, and an underlying mossy, woodsy edge. The wine’s fruit is initially crunchy and crisp before turning darker to sleek and succulent cassis and black cherry. As the wine expands, it grows in volume and mineral focus then finishes long, persistent, and penetrating, with great clarity of flavor and spicy intensity. Drink between mid-2023 and 2035. Serve at 60F.

Andy Smith