After a long Northern California winter, the days are getting longer, and the vineyards are finally drying out a bit. We experienced another very wet winter, although the storms were a little less intense than last year, so we saw less runoff and erosion. The rain has replenished the soils and filled our reservoirs, and we are ready to start the growing season. Overall, the weather has been cold this year, so we are experiencing another late budbreak, with just the first few buds appearing as we approach mid-March.

The 2023 vintage is aging in barrel and looks fantastic. Because we had such a late growing season, the days were shorter during harvest, which allowed our fruit to hang longer on the vine without accumulating too much sugar, resulting in beautiful wines with ripe fruit flavors. We wrapped up bottling the 2022 vintage last month and are very pleased with the results. In contrast to 2023, 2022 was very early, but the wines still show excellent balance, with a delicate and generally red fruit-driven profile.

However, before we get to those vintages, we have a very exciting set of 2021s to share with you in your Spring Allocation. Depending on which Membership tier you have joined, you will see some of the following wines, along with the opportunity to add on others. First up is the fourth vintage of Three Hills Pinot Noir, which highlights the lighter, fresher side of our Carneros Estate. We also have a new wine, the Home Ranch Pinot Noir, also sourced from Carneros but exhibiting a riper, darker fruit profile than our Three Hills Pinot Noir. Finally, in the Estate Club allocation, we have the last vintage of our Anderson Valley Pinot Noir sourced from Angel Camp Vineyard; our 2023 Anderson Valley wines have been sourced from our Savoy Vineyard. As always, Anderson Valley shows a beautiful interplay between earth and fruit, something of a cross between our Carneros and Russian River Valley vineyards.


On the reserve side, we have two special wines. First up is the 2021 East Slope, all Calera clone from our Carneros Estate, with incredible poise and precision. I love the way that this wine captures the floral and fruit characteristics of Pinot Noir all in one wine. And last, but certainly not least, is the 2021 Angel Camp Pinot Noir, the “swan song” from this vineyard for Donum and a beautiful send-off. This may be one of our riper wines from Angel Camp, but has wonderful acidity and tannin, providing great structure to balance all that ripe fruit.

Thanks again for being a valued Donum Estate Member, and I hope to see you on property this spring or summer.

Cheers!

Dan Fishman
Director of Winemaking & Vineyards
Winemaker