2024 Fall Release
"For those that embrace Chardonnays and Pinots with a sense of natural grace and elegance, these 2022 DuMOLs are for you!"
- Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent
Winegrower and Proprietor Andy Smith introduces an exciting collection of 2022 vintage, single vineyard wines releasing on August 6.
Our Fall Release opens August 6, 2024, featuring a beautiful collection of Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs from the 2022 vintage.
The 2022 harvest began with a pick for Chloe Chardonnay on August 12th, the earliest in our 28-year history. The harvest weather was gentle and mild until an unprecedented “heat-dome” event moved into the entire State on September 3rd: 110F+ for 8 days straight...chaos ensued!
Fortunately, because of the early start, we had already harvested 80% of our vineyards, so we feel grateful to have avoided the worst of this dramatic event. It’s worth highlighting that western Sonoma County’s harvest is totally different to Napa’s this year, and our wines show zero effect from the heatwave. In fact, they are an especially vibrant and lively collection.
In the cellar, I struggle to recall a vintage where the wines “put on weight” in barrel to the extent these did. Initially post-harvest the young wines were quite light and fruity. Through winter then spring they gradually deepened and broadened, revealing their natural concentration. Their respective vineyard signatures began to develop over Summer, so we gave the Pinots a second winter in barrel allowing them to evolve fully – we follow no recipe here, we react to the wines on an individual basis – if they need more time, they get it, and we delay bottling.
Overall, I consider 2022 to be an “essence of Pinot Noir” vintage. The wines are fruit-laden, supple, vibrant, and layered. There are no sharp edges that require aging - everything’s in its place. They combine approachability with classical balance between fruit, texture and structure, and this ensures they’re capable of aging positively in bottle, gaining complexity, for up to ten years. They have sneaky hidden depth that reminds me of our 2014 Pinots and that’s one of our most memorable vintages.
Similarly, the Chardonnays are generously layered and can be opened soon after release. The coastal wines are focused and acid-driven with beautiful citrus intensity. For early enjoyment I recommend Chloe for its upfront richness. There's an oiliness and deep concentration to the wines that’s especially appealing, and a distinct stylistic similarity to both our 2017s and 2019s.
What I love about this entire collection is their naturalness, their honesty and clarity of vineyard expression. Not only are they simply delicious, but they also taste of where they were grown and not our hand in the winery nor excess ripeness, and for me, that’s the essence of winegrowing, and what we strive to maximize each season. Please check the wine notes for professional reviews of each wine, from a set of critics that we respect and who visit us to taste each year.
- Andy Smith, Winegrower & Proprietor