About
About At the Heart of DuMOL
“As a ‘vineyard up’ winery, we remain very close to the ingredients, close to the vineyards. Our winemaking technique is secondary to what we achieve in the field.”
“It takes time to discover a vineyard’s defining characteristics and even longer to employ the right winemaking technique to draw out those features in the wines. It requires sensitivity, a lightness of touch. We try not to layer in too many winemaking techniques. We try not to obscure the vineyard character. Ultimately, this allows us to achieve a more complex, multi-dimensional, effortless quality in our wines.”
The Hoppe-Kelly is planted on a steep hillside and features rocky, iron-rich, weathered volcanic soils that add an extra dimension of structure to the wines.
We planted the Jentoft Vineyard in 2007 using our own historic vine selections. Once a vine hits about 9-10 years old, the uniformity of the vine growth becomes regular and defined and the resulting fruit quality really takes a strong step ahead.
“We collaborate very closely with our growers, from pruning through to the day of harvest. We work together to express their piece of land in a way that draws out the unique characteristics of each parcel.”
"Our goal is to make site driven wines that taste of place, so our wines will naturally express the unique characteristics of the vintage which allows for new and exciting favorites every year."
Many mornings are spent in the vineyards, collecting samples for analysis, tasting fruit, and monitoring the vines.
"Through our connection to the land, to the fruit, and to the season, we are able to identify different expressions of a single site and determine our blends in the vineyard before the wine ever reaches the cellar."
It’s exciting to see the quality of the grapes we achieve through months of precise viticulture and responsive farming, anticipating the quality of the finished wines.
“The date we harvest a specific block in a vineyard – or the entire vineyard – is the most important decision we make all year because that sets the tone for the final wine. We’re visiting the vineyards every couple of days, focusing on the maturity of the vine – where we think the ripeness is going to go and how that translates to the final flavor in the wine. This is an ongoing process that can only be done in the field and it comes from a depth of experience and that vision of winemaking – the taste, the structure, the intensity can all be tracked back to the day of harvest.”
“It’s important to have a strong sense of vision for how you want the wine to communicate. With experience you learn how to create that roadmap from grape to bottle.”
Our barrel program focuses on a handful of select artisan coopers.
Each of our coopers creates a barrel with specific character, whether it’s the full bodied, masculine style of Tonnellerie Remond; the complex, savory style of Tonnellerie Chassin; the elegant, subtle details of Tonnellerie Ermitage; or the texture and depth that comes from Tonnellerie Atelier Centre France.
For Pinot Noir we concentrate on the cool Green Valley and Sonoma Coast areas of Western Sonoma County where ridgetop soils, eastern exposures and fog-influences combine to produce grapes that are both delicate and concentrated.
“We are committed to Sonoma County and we farm sustainably for the long term. We support a dynamic, holistic culture of food and wine. You can’t separate the quality of the wine from the culture of the region.”
Our crew starts to harvest at 11 pm and will harvest until 7 am.
We harvest the grapes at night so the cool, firm fruit remains intact during its short journey to the winery.
“During élevage, the raising of the wine in the barrel, you need to know when to nudge the wine in a certain direction, and know when to let the wine evolve at its own pace. Patience is very important at this stage. We listen to what each wine needs individually instead of imposing a preconceived idea of what a particular wine should be.”
In the winery we work in a patient, sensitive and classical manner to maintain all the natural nuances and fine details of the fruit.
“We firmly believe that each DuMOL wine tells an original story. These stories begin in the vineyard.”
“Winemaking is an amazing journey. Every year it’s changing and every year you go through a whole spectrum of events and hard work. Then, at the end, you have this product that is a time capsule. When you uncork it, it tells the story of everything that happened over that year, every factor in the vineyard, all that effort.”
About 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
About Press
There’s tremendous personal satisfaction in creating wines that inspire contemplation – and we are encouraged by the feedback our efforts have garnered.
California, Sonoma County: The 2023 Vintage at Dumol
Erin Brooks, The Wine Advocate
“Like all great vintages, there are many pathways to success,” Dumol winegrower and proprietor Andy Smith says of the 2023 vintage. “If you performed well, it nudged the frontier of wine quality forward.” The idyllic growing season allowed Smith and his winemaker, Jenna Davis, to craft a stunning lineup of cellar-worthy Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays that he says may be the finest the winery has ever produced.
Sonoma and Neighbors 2022 & 2023: Opposites Attract
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
This is a stellar set of 2023s from Andy Smith and Jenna Davis at DuMOL. Yields were low for Chardonnay but bountiful for Pinot Noir to the point of requiring considerable thinning of the crop. The Chardonnays are glorious, rich but not heavy, and incredibly expressive of place. That’s a pretty appealing combination in my book. A few of the Chardonnays are in bottle, but most will be bottled this winter. The Pinot Noirs might be even more impressive. They saw 18-21 days on the skins followed by very slow, gradual malolactic fermentations, with no added SO2 in aging until racking. The Bressay, MacIntyre and DuMOL Estate Pinots are all magnificent in the early going. Most of the Pinots had not been bottled at the time of my tastings. I will follow up once I have had a chance to taste the finished wines.
2023: A Wild Rollercoaster Ride
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Wine of the Year – 2021 DuMOL Pinot Noir MacIntyre Estate Vineyard, Sonoma Coast, United States
As soon as I started tasting the 2021 Pinot Noirs this past January, I knew it was a special vintage. The wines were aromatically intense, deep, layered and beautifully balanced. The 2021 DuMOL Pinot Noir MacIntyre Estate Vineyard embodies all those qualities to the fullest. It emerges from a site in a cool pocket in Green Valley planted in 2016 with Swan and Calera clones propagated from DuMOL’s other estate vineyards. High-density planting and dry farming on a site with a classic mix of Goldridge and sandy soils work very well here. The 2021 MacIntyre Pinot is a sensational, riveting wine that I would be thrilled to own. There’s something absolutely magical about certain sites on the Sonoma Coast, namely an ability to deliver tremendous flavor intensity and textural richness at relatively moderate alcohols. This is a fabulous example.
DuMOL - Shining Star of Sonoma County
Dr. Owen Bargreen
Today we present to you one of the shining stars of Sonoma County. A world-class producer of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Cabernet in California, DuMOL began back in 1996 and strangely initially was a hobby for three friends. Since 1999 Andy Smith been at the helm as winemaker. Originally from Scotland, Andy has previously worked at Dry River, Littorai, Havens, Franus, to Matua and Mt Pleasant wineries. Andy went on to graduate in viticulture and enology from Lincoln University in Christchurch, NZ and later became assistant winemaker for Paul Hobbs.
Putting Down Roots, DuMOL’s New Releases
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent
"DuMOL’s Andy Smith took some time putting down roots. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, he studied winemaking at Lincoln University in New Zealand. He worked at Dry River in Martinborough before heading to Australia and eventually coming to California to work for top producers such as Littorai and Paul Hobbs. So, when he speaks, his nomadic past makes for an unusual yet infectious accent...DuMOL must be one of the best-priced producers in the world right now for spectacular Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. The style here perfectly hits that sweet-spot target of generous fruit with captivating finesse. I can’t recommend this collection of 2021s highly enough."