~ July 2002 ~

Summer is heating up for Dutton-Goldfield
It's shaping up to be quite a summer for Dutton-Goldfield. The 2001 wines are coming along great, and the 2000s are being released to rave reviews. We're doing our best to keep up with everything, including kicking off a couple of new states (and a big "welcome" to you all), attending a few events (thanks again to the gang in Telluride) and getting ourselves more organized.

New and Improved Press Kits
We've updated our press kits recently, so look for packages in your office soon with a supply of our new pieces. You can also download all our press kit pieces, product sheets and recent press articles at our website. Just click here (www.duttongoldfield.com/trade) to go right to the page, or go to www.duttongoldfield.com and choose "Making Contact" then "For the Trade".

How Can We Help You?
The new press kits are just one of the ways we are trying to get you the materials you need to sell Dutton-Goldfield wine. We're also going to be creating some shelf-talkers that will be going out to you (if anyone has any suggestions or especially nice samples you'd like to forward on, please do). We'd love to get your ideas as well on what you think would give you that extra lift, especially in this more challenging market. Feel free to reply to this email, or email Valerie directly at valerie@duttongoldfield.com, or give us a call at 707.823.3887.

Events
Dan just recently returned from a great weekend at the Telluride Wine Festival, where he poured wine, spoke on a panel and even managed to slip in a few bike rides. One of the highlights was Wayne Belding's Pinot seminar where 8 Pinots from around the world were tasted (three California appellations, Oregon, New Zealand and Burgundy). The 2000 Maurice Galante Pinot Noir showed particularly well, and a vote at the end had all participants including it as one of their top 2 favorites. With fall coming up, many states are also having trade events. If you haven't already let us know about your state's upcoming events, please get in touch. Valerie will also be checking in to see if we may be able to participate.

In the Vineyards
After an intense heat spell, we're back to our typical summer pattern of foggy weather. We're expecting veraision to begin any day now. Steve's taking extra special care with our Freestone Hill and Galante vineyards, to ensure the best possible 2002 fruit for these exotic wines, and is about to thin the fruit at Galante (prodded by more whining by Dan).

In the Wine Cellar
We just completed our final rack and back for all the 2001 wines last week. They're turning out beautifully, getting ready to hit the bottle in late August. We're also putting together some new D-G packaging beginning with this vintage, so stay tuned for more details and a preview soon.

Wine Reviews and Press
Dan Berger's Vintage Experiences June 20 article entitled "Budding Star in Russian River" was released right after our last email to you. After spending an afternoon tasting wines with us, he wrote an amazing article about Dutton-Goldfield, and rated all the wines he tasted as exceptional. Some excerpts:

"Goldfield is passionate about Pinot Noir, and his four latest are examples of some of the top wine making in Russian River, in the same league as Gary Farrell, Williams Selyem, and Dehlinger."

"...exceptionally well-made and ought to be tasted by all Pinot Noir lovers."

"...some of the most intensely flavored wines, and the 2000s are as good as anything they've made."

To download the complete article, as well as other recent press articles, go to www.duttongoldfield.com and choose "Making Contact" and then "For the Trade".

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The August issue of Food & Wine magazine featured a piece by Richard Nally called On the Chardonnay Trail (a day-by-day travel itinerary through Sonoma County for the Chardonnay obsessed). Dutton-Goldfield was included in the "Sonoma Black Book" at the end of the article, as well as in the Russian River Valley tour, which included this paragraph:

"Over the past 10 years, the spotlight has grown brighter and brighter on the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast to the north...it's still largely a region of small- to medium-size wineries focused on high-quality Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, such as Gary Farrell and famed local vineyard Dutton Ranch, which supplies grapes to over two dozen top wineries and also turns out its own remarkably nuanced Dutton-Goldfield Chardonnay."

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Just last Friday (July 19), The Wall Street Journal featured a Tastings article, where the 2000 Dutton Ranch Pinot Noir was ranked the authors' top Pinot pick from their weeks spent touring and tasting in Napa and Sonoma. "Cream and velvety fruit on the nose. Ripe and rich, with a long, dry finish. A very pretty wine."