The Dutton family planted Freestone Hill in 1996 and 1997, just before Steve Dutton teamed up with winemaker Dan Goldfield to launch Dutton-Goldfield. Like many of the vineyards in the Freestone area, Freestone Hill is heavily influenced by the Petaluma Gap to the south, which brings regular inundations of coastal wind and fog. The relatively sunny 2012 vintage grew a firm, forceful pinot noir at Freestone Hill, a wine that lasts on a beam of red cherry fruit and a green, fresh scent that feels like a distillation of redwood fronds. The layers of fruit and the savory structure integrate with air in a beautiful, complex pinot noir that could only come from Sonoma’s coastal hills. (613 cases)

From a coastal vineyard in the southwest corner of the Russian River Valley, this is earthy and brambly on the nose, inviting in its sense of wild abandon. Concentrated yet vibrant in acidity, the flavors lean toward cranberry and tart cherry, completely enveloped in intriguing cardamom spice. Elegant and balanced.

A ripe yet cool and admirably pure nose offers up a broad array of spice elements that add plenty of breadth to the plummy dark pinot fruit scents. I very much like the textured mouth feel to the medium weight flavors that possess solid mid-palate concentration while delivering excellent depth and persistence on the balanced finale. Like the Devil’s Gulch, this will definitely need a few years of cellar time as it’s quite youthfully firm. 2020+