2007 DuMOL Pinot Noir Estate

The 2007 Pinot Noir Estate from DuMol’s holdings in Green Valley is also a product of the Calera and Swan clones of Pinot Noir (only 200 cases produced). This impressive, dark ruby-hued effort is dominated by red and black fruits exhibiting plenty of rhubarb and wild strawberry notes as well as hints of black cherries and underbrush. Intense and backward, it appears to have closed down considerably after bottling. Give it another year or so of bottle age, and drink it over the following 12-15 years. With highly committed proprietor Kerry Murphy and talented winemaker Andy Smith, DuMol continues to be one of the most reliable names in winedom for high quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Moreover, consumers should not overlook their top flight Viognier and blockbuster Syrahs. All of the Chardonnays are barrel-fermented and spend 18 months on their lees with monthly stirring. The percentage of new French oak used varies from around 45% to 55%. The Pinot Noirs are kept on their lees for about 15 months, and the percentage of new oak ranges from 40% to 60%. The clonal material comes from old California selections such as Calera, Swan, and Martini as well as newer Dijon clones such as 115 and 777. As I reported in issue #180, the cool growing conditions in 2007 produced some of the finest Chardonnay fruit that winemaker Andy Smith had ever seen. The 2008 Chardonnay crop was average in size, but produced very tiny berries. All the wines had relatively slow malolactics (not unusual at this winery). Tel. (925) 254-8922; Fax (925) 254-8942