This wine showcases expressive aromas of dark bramble and plum, with a kiss of rose petal and wisp of black tea leaf lingering in the background. Nuanced French oak provides Christmas spice to the ever-present boysenberry and Bing cherry, while earthy notes coalesce with dark chocolate on the finish. This crowd-pleaser pinot will be happy accompanying fish to fowl, along with savory side dishes that include mushrooms or earthy roasted root vegetables. We think an aged Gouda makes the perfect cheese match.

Dutton-Goldfield’s mission is to craft world-class wines that express the personalities of their cool-climate home, through a brightness of fruit, complexity, structure and balance. The winery was born of a handshake in a vineyard in 1998, when longtime colleagues and friends Steve Dutton and Dan Goldfield recognized this shared vision. Warren Dutton, Steve’s father, began growing grapes in the western reaches of Russian River Valley, and was the first to plant chardonnay in its coldest corners, in the mid-1960s, at a time when most people thought the area was too cool to grow fruit for quality still wine. Dutton Ranch enjoys this legacy with a choice collection of 80 vineyards today, from which Dutton-Goldfield receives the best possible quality of grapes each harvest. From their favorite Dutton Ranch parcels, Steve and Dan select the vineyards that will blend together to become quintessential Russian River expressions. They then choose a few special sites that epitomize their terroir to bottle in limited-production single-vineyard wines. Dutton-Goldfield’s pinots have balance and individuality, and elicit the flavors of the piece of earth from which they come. The chardonnays are from the old, cold, dry-farmed vineyards of Green Valley that provide a vibrant citrus core, focused fruit, great richness and solid acidity, even after full barrel and malolactic fermentation. Syrah also beautifully reflects this cold part of the world, with its bright fruit, silky tannins, complexity and balance.

Proof/ABV: 13.5