Wine & Spirits - Winter 2017 - 32

Duckhorn
Before winemaker Bill Nancarrow passed the baton to Renee Ary, they worked
together on a series of vibrant Napa cabernets from 2013; Ary followed them
with a 2014 vintage that cemented Duckhorn's place among the Top 100
Wineries.

TOP 100 WINERIES 2017

The Foundation: In 1978, Dan Duckhorn released the Three Palms
Vineyard Merlot, sourced from a site in Calistoga on volcanic rock-
a far cry from the clay-based soil that made merlot famous in France.
The wine went on to become a benchmark for Napa merlot. Its success helped Duckhorn secure prime estate vineyards for Bordeaux
varieties throughout Napa Valley, including Patzimaro Vineyard,
Monitor Ledge and Rector Creek-and, in 2015, Three Palms. Many
of those vineyards played into Duckhorn's complex and structured
2013 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. A blend of estate and purchased fruit from Howell Mountain, Rutherford, Oakville, Calistoga
and Yountville, it's a Napa Valley classic, dark and velvety, the berryscented fruit accentuated by crisp acidity.
A New Leaf: Renee Ary worked nearly every position at Duckhorn
before taking over as winemaker in 2014. One of her goals is to
highlight the diversity of microclimates through her wines; take the
Patzimaro Vineyard, located at the base of Spring Mountain in Napa
Valley. Patzimaro's heavy loam soils retain water well and sustained
freshness in the grapes through the heat of the 2014 season
in St. Helena. The vines produced a densely concentrated cabernet, with savory notes of olive and cola
backed up by rich fruit and firm acid.
Changing Places: Back in 2006, Ary and Nancarrow worked together on the first bottling of The Discussion, a blend of fruit
from estate vineyards that is now Duckhorn's flagship wine. They vinified each lot
separately and aged them in new French
oak barrels for 18 months; after blending,
Renee Ary
the wine aged another six months in neutral French oak. The 2013 Discussion is one
of Duckhorn's most restrained wines, a blend
of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc
and petit verdot that's dark and juicy while remaining
completely savory. Next year, Ary hopes to add merlot from
Three Palms Vineyard into The Discussion. -G.M.

An alliance between a pioneering cool-climate winemaker and a young grape
grower resulted in a West-Sonoma dream team.
The Deal: When Dan Goldfield and Steve Dutton first met, Goldfield
was the winemaker at La Crema and Dutton was a kid in his early
twenties who dropped off grapes that his father, Warren Dutton,
grew in the Russian River Valley. Over the years, they became friends,
and as La Crema grew, Goldfield realized he "had to decide whether
to be an executive or a craftsman." He chose the latter, and partnered
with Steve Dutton in 2001 to start a winery that would draw heavily
on the Dutton family's extensive Sonoma vineyard holdings.
Sonoma's Chardonnay Heartland: Goldfield makes a number of singlevineyard chardonnays, but this year it was his multi-vineyard Dutton Ranch blend that captured our attention. It's satisfyingly rich,
with a subtle brightness and a sleek, regal grace, billowing with sunny
yellow fruit. Goldfield certainly has a leg up on most of his peers:
The Duttons farm more than 80 sites in the Russian River Valley,
and Goldfield snaps up the "older, colder vineyards," as he puts it.
The core of the Dutton Ranch chardonnay is, invariably, a parcel of
the Old Wente selection planted in the mid-1970s at Mill Station in
Green Valley. "It's ugly, it's flat, it's low, it floods in the winter-and
it's awesome," Goldfield enthuses.
Farther Afield: While most of the vines are grown by the Dutton family, Goldfield and Dutton make a few exceptions for interesting
vineyards outside the Duttons' home base in the Russian River Valley. The McDougall vineyard-one ridge north of Hirsch, on the far
Sonoma Coast-usually makes a powerful, tannic, rather backward
pinot noir. It's pretty lush in 2014, with a juicy blueberry tone and a
rosy high note-a rare vintage of McDougall that's already delicious
and open in its youth. One of the newest wines in the range (first
made in 2011) is the Chileno Valley Riesling, from a dry-farmed vineyard in the cool, rolling hills of Marin County. The 2016
iteration is the best yet, its delicious stone-fruit plumpness enlivened by zippy acidity and green spices. -L.S.

DETAILS & TOP WINES

Founded: 1976 * Winemaker: Renee Ary
Viticulturist: P.J. Aviso * Owner: TSG Consumer Partners
Acres owned: 225 * Annual production: 100,000 cases
Estate grown: 25% * Location: St. Helena, CA
Website: duckhorn.com

Founded: 1998 * Owner/winemaker: Dan Goldfield
Owner/viticulturist: Steve Dutton * Acres owned: none
Annual production: 14,000 cases * Estate grown: 75%
(from Dutton Ranch) * Location: Sebastopol, CA
Website: duttongoldfield.com

95 2013 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon $72 (4/17)
94 2013 Napa Valley Patzimaro Vineyard
Cabernet Sauvignon $95 (4/17)
92 2013 Napa Valley The Discussion $135 (10/17)

92 2015 Russian River Valley Dutton Ranch
Chardonnay $38 (10/17)
91 2016 Marin County Chileno Valley Vineyard
Riesling $30 (8/17)
91 2014 Fort Ross-Seaview Dutton Ranch McDougall
Vineyard Pinot Noir $62 (4/17)

N APA V ALLEY
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Dutton-Goldfield

WINE & SPIRITS

BUYING GUIDE 2018

S ONOMA C OUNTY

http://www.duttongoldfield.com http://www.duckhorn.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - Winter 2017