Our Favorite Things
Tracy Dutton, Founder
2017 Kyndall’s Reserve Chardonnay
2018 Karmen Isabella Pinot Noir
2019 Kylie’s Cuvee Sauvignon Blanc
Tracy, born and raised in Sebastopol, founded Dutton Estate Winery with her husband Joe Dutton in 1995. “I have three favorite wines here at Dutton Estate Winery… I also have three daughters, Karmen, Kylie and Kyndall, so asking me to choose between my three favorite wines is asking me to choose between my children and I can’t do that! The Kylie’s Cuvee Sauvignon Blanc is my favorite Sauvignon Blanc and Kylie is my favorite middle child (wink). And I enjoy the Sauvignon Blanc just as a nice sipping wine with family and friends. The Kyndall’ s Reserve Chardonnay is my favorite Chardonnay as Kyndall is my favorite oldest daughter. I like to enjoy it with a nice light meal, cheese and crackers or some charcuterie. The Karmen Isabella Pinot Noir is my favorite Pinot and Karmen is my favorite youngest child. It’s really great with grilled hamburgers in the spring and summer, to a nice polenta and stew I the fall and winter.”
Brian Tofflemire, Wine Educator
2017 Manzana Vineyard Pinot Noir
- 94 points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
- 92 Points - California Grapevine
- 90 Points - Planet Grape
Brian joined Dutton Estate Winery this summer and can be found hosting visitors every weekend. Monday through Friday he has the important job of educating children as a Sonoma County public school teacher! “The 2017 Manzana Vineyard Pinot is my favorite! What I love about it is that it’s fruit forward… it has dark cherry that’s the star of the show, but it also has these secondary notes of some of that earthy funkiness that I love to pick through. The way I like to enjoy this wine is I like to open it and have it right out of the bottle, then see how it evolves over the next hour or so.”
Madlyn Smith, Social Media Coordinator
2018 Warren's Collection Chardonnay
- 91 Points - Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate
Madlyn recently joined Dutton Estate Winery with her wonderful photography and social media talents. When she is not at the winery she is running her studio and shop for sustainable creativity in nearby Sebastopol. "My favorite is the 2018 Warren’s Collection Chardonnay. I’m not normally a Chardonnay person but this one is really beautiful and it’s not as oaky as most Chardonnays. I really enjoy it, it’s one of the first wines i tasted here at Dutton Estate Winery and now it’s my go to!"
Joey Hoeber, Wine Educator
2017 My Father’s Vineyard Syrah
- 93 Points - Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate
- 95 Points - The Tasting Panel & The Somm Journal
Joey joined Dutton Estate Winery this summer and hosts our weekend visitors. He currently runs fitness facilities in Marin County and has years of experience as a fine dining sommelier throughout the country. “This is my favorite wine, the 2017 My Father’s Vineyard Syrah. It’s a wonderful wine with red meat. I’m a butcher’s son from Buffalo, New York, and trust me, I love red meat and I love this wine with red meat. It’s blueberry jammy, has baking spices, and a nice earthy espresso quality. Great with prime rib… I highly recommend it!”
Kylie Dutton, Winemaker’s Assistant
2019 Kylie’s Fume Blanc
Kylie grew up in Sebastopol, and after studying Agribusiness Economics, she returned to Dutton Estate Winery to pursue a career as winemaker and has worked alongside our winemaker for several vintages. “My favorite wine is, no surprise here, Kylie’s Fume Blanc. I love this wine because it has the tropical aromas of a Sauvignon and it is 100% barrel fermented. The barrel fermentation gives it this nice sweetness and it kind of has a hint of coconut, which makes the wine super rich. It has a little bit more acidity than the Kylie’s Cuvee Sauvignon Blanc, but the oak helps mellow it out. I like to drink this by the pool if it’s nice and warm, but now that it’s chilly this is a great wine to assist you in decorating a Christmas tree.”
Ken Fuhr, Farmer’s Market
2019 Kylie’s Cuvee Sauvignon Blanc
- 92 Points - Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate
- 90 Points - Wine Enthusiast
- 92 Points - The Tasting Panel & The Somm Journal
- 91 Points - California Grapevine
Ken sells Dutton Estate Winery wines every Saturday at the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmer’s Market. When he’s not at the market he’s a director of photography and media communications coach. “I have to tell you that 2019 Kylie’s Cuvee Sauvignon Blanc is definitely my favorite wine. It’s pretty apparent because I probably sell the most of it at the farmers market because I really believe in this wine. There are a lot of hit and miss Sauvignon Blancs in California. Sometimes they are too flabby, not enough acid, or too grassy. But I love that the Sauvignon Blanc that Dutotn Estate Winery makes reminds me what a great New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc tastes like. Lot of zest… good acid to fruit ratio, you got some of the tropicals in there. I think you can drink this alone without food and it also pairs well with lighter foods like seafood and poultry.”
German Zavala, Cellarmaster
2017 La Familia Pinot Noir
- 92 Points - Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate
- 91 Points - California Grapevine
German is involved in every wine that is made at Dutton Estate Winery and has been the Cellarmaster since 2010. “Even though I enjoy every single wine of our portfolio because I have a personal attachment to every single wine, because I work with all the wines from beginning to end, the wines that I like to enjoy with family and friends is the 2017 La Familia Pinot Noir. It’s smooth, a very feminine style… you can drink it and enjoy it without a meal. You can do casual sipping and have a great time with friends and family.”
Elizabeth Miller, Director of Consumer Sales, Wine Club & Hospitality
2016 Cherry Ridge Vineyard Syrah
- 92 Points - Wine Enthusiast
- 92 Points - "Year's Best US Syrah and Rhône-Variety Red Blends"- Wine & Spirits
- 91 Points - California Grapevine
Elizabeth helps customers find the right bottle for them, from the tasting room to the website to the wine club. She moved to California wine country after many years in wine retail and restaurants in New York. “My absolute favorite wine that we make here is the 2016 Cherry Ridge Vineyard Syrah because it is the grape variety you would least expect from our growing region. It’s essentially a warm site in the middle of a really cold American Viticultural Area. I have been cooking up a storm lately and pairing the Cherry Ridge a lot… I’m planning on tackling a duck recipe next week, and this is going to be my pairing wine.”
Bobby Donnell, Consulting Winemaker
2017 Green Valley Pinot Noir
Born and raised outside of Dallas, Texas, Bobby was asked to join the Dutton Estate team in 2017 as the Consulting Winemaker. This was his dream job… producing small lot Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, from Estate Grown Vineyards and working with one of the best-known families in Sonoma County. "My favorite wine is the 2017 Green Valley Pinot Noir. My first introduction to winemaking here at Dutton Estate was in 2017, this was the first year I came in. Historically Green Valley had always been the backbone and really the driver behind our Karmen Isabella, our larger production Pinot Noir. '17 really showcases the greatness of Green Valley, it was dark and cherry cola with lots of spice going on. When this wine was put in the fermenter I told German, 'this is a dark horse, this is going to be something that is going to be special'. After a year in the barrel it came to fruition, it was awesome. I went to Tracy and Joe and said, 'this is something we need to make a single vineyard vintage of'. It had played second fiddle for so long and now it was just stellar! So, we made about 75 cases of this and it became one of my favorites. It's always my go-to, it's every bit big, bold and beautiful."
