2009 Thomas Road Pinot Noir

The Wine....

Vineyard....

Dutton Ranch farms over eighty unique, separate vineyards located in the coolest areas of the Russian River Valley, primarily in the sub-appellation known as the Green Valley. We have selected our favorite vineyards from our family’s Dutton Ranch to craft wine reflecting our vision of a signature Russian River Valley Pinot Noir. Thomas Road Vineyard is located at the northeastern part of the Green Valley. Planted to clone Dijon 115 in 1997, this vineyard produces wine of dark berries with a bold firm mouth-feel. The vines planted on the rockier Sebastopol type soil historically produce wines of this consistent character. This fearless wine is defined as the “Big Brother” of our pinot noirs.

The Winemaking...

After de-stemming into small open top fermenters, the must is cold-soaked for 5 days to gently extract spice and fruit characters, while extenuating harsher tannins. We punch down up to three times daily, according to the stage of the fermentation. After fermentation, the juice is racked into French oak to age. Our winemaker chooses the barrels to emphasize the fruit and vineyard characteristics of the wine, while accenting the flavors of the barrels to avoid showcasing the oak itself. The Dutton-Thomas Road Pinot Noir was bottled unfiltered in July 2010.