Nose
Dutton Estate’s Thomas Road Pinot Noir is integrated with a royal mouthfeel. A
very forward wine, massive fruit, floral notes, and an earthy complexity are truly
pronounced.
Palate
Blending perfectly on the palate, a complexity of notes is displayed;
dried plums, baked snicker doodle, black cherry, cola, black berry jam, grilled
meat and even sweet smoked ham. With a perfectly long finish, Thomas Road
Pinot Noir will leave you wishing for more. This is by far the biggest, most tannic
of the Dutton Estate wines.
Growing Conditions
Dutton Ranch farms eighty-three unique and separate vineyard sites, most of
which are in the coolest areas of the Russian River Valley; primarily in the subappellation
known as the Green Valley. We have selected the Thomas Road
Vineyard to craft a wine reflecting our vision of a signature “wine of place’ 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 a wine
displaying dark berries with a bold firm mouth-feel. The vines planted on the
rockier, clay-type Sebastopol soil, historically produce wines of a consistent
character exhibited in Dutton Estate Thomas Road Pinot Noir. This fearless wine
is defined as the “Big Brother” of our pinot noirs.
Bottling
The wine was bottled in August 2016.
Winemaking
Our Thomas Road Pinot Noir is hand sorted for quality and then de-stemming
into small open top fermenters. The must was cold-soaked for 5 days to gently
extract spice and fruit characters, while extenuating deeper tannins. During
fermentation, we opt for daily hand punch downs and/or drain and returns, up to
three time per day. Post fermentation, the fermented juice is pressed and racked
into French oak barrels to age. Barrels are selected to emphasize the fruit and
vineyard characteristics of the wine, while gently accenting the flavors of the
French oak.
Aging
10 months French Oak (37% new).
