California’s softer side, with DuMOL’s British winemaker – Monday 2nd March

Andy Smith’s first exposure to the wine world – in between swimming competitively for his native Scotland – was working in the Edinburgh branch of Oddbins in the early ‘90s. Today, there is an argument to say he is the most critically acclaimed British winemaker anywhere in the world.

As the creative force behind Sonoma-based DuMOL, Andy has amassed a string of accolades in the likes of Vinous and The Wine Advocate, from snaring Antonio Galloni’s Wine of the Year in 2023 to Robert Parker heralding the brand as ‘one of my favourite wineries’ for its ’world-class Chardonnays and Pinot’ back in the 2000s. And yet here in the UK, the wines continue to fly slightly under the radar.

Andy left Edinburgh for New Zealand over 30 years ago, where he cut his winemaking teeth at Pinot Noir specialist Dry River in Martinborough. From there, he ventured to California, firstly at fellow Pinot exponent Littorai before joining superstar winemaker Paul Hobbs, working across all of his consultancies, including such names as Larkmead – and DuMOL. So successful was the latter partnership, that, back in 1999, he joined the estate full-time.

These days Andy is senior partner and head winemaker, but likes to think of himself as vinegrower, focused largely on running DuMOL’s estate vineyards and those of its partner-growers. Nestled in a particularly cool corner of the Sonoma Coast, DuMOL harnesses the fog-driven precipitation from the cooling Humboldt current and surprisingly modest temperatures in organically farmed, high-density vineyards, where leaf-thinning is required in order to reach full ripeness. The result is to produce a range of supremely drinkable, moderately oaked wines.

‘You can’t make great wine unless you have great vineyards,’ says Andy. ‘Most vineyards have one or two defining characteristics, or features – we try to draw out those very specific small nuances in each parcel.’

We invite you to join the affable Andy to get to know DuMOL for yourselves via his top Chardonnay and Pinot bottlings across a range of vintages.

The wines we’ll be tasting:
2023 Estate Chardonnay, DuMOL, Sonoma Coast
2020 Estate Chardonnay, DuMOL, Sonoma Coast
2023 Chardonnay, Hyde Vineyard, DuMOL, Carneros, Napa Valley
2018 Chardonnay, Hyde Vineyard, DuMOL, Carneros, Napa Valley
2023 Pinot Noir, Bressay Estate, DuMOL, Sonoma Coast,
2023 Pinot Noir, Finn, DuMOL, Russian River Valley
2020 Pinot Noir, Finn, DuMOL, Russian River Valley
2023 Pinot Noir, Finn, DuMOL, Russian River Valley
2018 Pinot Noir, Finn, DuMOL, Russian River Valley
2016 Cabernet Sauvignon, Meteor Vineyard, DuMOL, Coombsville, Napa Valley

Monday 2nd March
St James’s Room
18:30 – Welcome reception
19:00 – Masterclass starts
20:30 – Masterclass ends

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