2011 Viognier Lia

"We picked when we wanted to, mostly in the second half of September," said Andy Smith about the 2011 harvest in Sonoma County."We harvested everything except the Charles Heintz chardonnay before the first rain on October 3."Even if he doesn't consider 2011 to be at the level of 2010 here, Smith believes that the 2011 chardonnays are balanced from the start, showing "intensity and energy more than weight."The pinots may be less dense than normal, owing to the reduced number of sunshine hours during the growing season, added Smith, "but they don't lack for structure."(He indicated some concern about the 2012 pinots because of the high crop levels.)Syrah was the most challenging variety here in 2011 and a lot of fruit was declassified as a result of underripeness or problems with the grape skins."The year was not good for vinifying with whole clusters due to botrytis," noted Smith.

This is a fabulous set of wines from DuMol and winemaker Andy Smith. Stylistically, the wines capture a middle ground built on balance above all else. The wines are rich and layered but never heavy. I am sure I am not the only person who was surprised to see Smith leave his other longstanding gig over at Larkmead in Calistoga at the end of last year. I imagine that DuMol owners Kerry Murphy and Michael Verlander are probably delighted to have more of Smith's time. It's probably a pretty safe bet DuMol will be getting into the Cabernet Sauvignon business in the near future.
Andy Smith describes 2011 as a year with lower maturities than normal and also naturally lower yields, while 2012 was an abundant crop with larger berries and far greater production. In 2012 the malos were quite slow, which is reflected in a number of wines that come across as a bit less fully formed than they usually do at this stage, the Chardonnays in particular. In 2011, both the Eoin and Connor Pinots were picked after the rains and were ultimately bulked out, as the fruit wasn't high enough to merit vineyard designate bottlings. Smith also used a very small amount of whole clusters in 2011. I have a slight preference for the 2011 Chardonnays over 2012s, as the naturally low yields of the year and the cool growing season have produced a set of deeply expressive, dynamic wines long on energy. Don't get me wrong the 2012 Chardonnays are beautiful. It's just that the 2011s have a little more complexity. It's a high-class problem to choose between these vintages. On average, the 2012 Pinots are a notch above the 2011s, as they have more fruit and resonance, along with better balance, much of that coming from a much more favorable growing season. In Syrah, which ripens later than both Chardonnay and Pinot, 2012 is a decidedly better and more even vintage than the rain-plagued 2011. All of the 2012s Chardonnays and Pinots I tasted were in tank, while the unbottled Syrahs were all in barrel.

Winemaker Andy Smith describes 2009 as a ‘sweet, forward vintage,' while 2011 is more ‘dynamic and commercial.' Smith reserves his highest praise for 2010, which he calls his favorite among the three current vintages. In 2011, Smith bulked out 20% of his Pinot Noirs, including the entire production of the Eoin. All the 2011 Pinots came in before the rains. Smith used whole clusters only for the Aidan, as botrytis was an issue in all the other Pinot vineyards. The Charles Heintz Chardonnay came in after the rains. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to taste the 2011 Syrahs, as the final blends had not yet been put together at the time of this tasting. In broad terms, the DuMol Chardonnays are all fermented and aged in barrel, with no lees stirring. Some of the wines are aged in slightly larger 300 liter barrels, and at times the malolactic fermentation are partly blocked, which results in wines that are both texturally rich but also full of energy, a combination that is rare and hard to achieve. The single-vineyard Pinots spend 14-15 months in barrel on their fine lees, while the Syrahs get a few more months in oak. At their best, the Pinots and Syrahs are compelling.