DuMOL Acquires Dr. Galante Estate Vineyard, Doubling Down on the Russian River Valley, and Strengthening Its Commitment to Quality With In-House Farming

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WINDSOR, Calif., February 16, 2023 (Newswire.com) - DuMOL is proud to announce its recent acquisition of the Dr. Galante Estate Vineyard, raising its Estate holdings to 80 planted acres, and solidifying their quest to produce wines of exceptional quality and unique character, with clear expression of site.  

The acquisition of Dr. Galante Vineyard is timed beautifully with the Russian River Valley's 40^th anniversary. Since DuMOL's inception over 25 years ago, they've been studying their local neighborhood, the distinctive Green Valley of the Russian River Valley, understood to be one of the best places on earth to grow Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

In concert with fog from the Pacific Ocean, free-draining soils, heritage vine selections, and the hands of skilled and driven winegrowers, the winery's continual study of the land's seen and unforeseen occurrences mean their capacity to craft world-class wines grows each season. 

Dr. Galante Vineyard is one of the finest pieces of land in the area for grape growing. With a cool northern hillside exposure, bordered by forest, deep and lingering fog intrusion, and classic Goldridge soil with patches of highly-prized Altamont friable red sandy/clays, DuMOL is thrilled to add the vineyard to its portfolio and discover its potential intimately. 

Dr. Galante is located just ½ mile from DuMOL's existing Green Valley Estate vineyards—initially 10 acres planted by DuMOL's Winemaker and Partner Andy Smith in 2004, and subsequently expanded to a total of 30 acres. Today, with mature, balanced vines across four contiguous parcels in Green Valley, Smith, whose first vintage with DuMOL was 1998, is boots-on-the-ground, ensuring wine quality, daily. 

In a brief timeline of Estate-vineyard events: DuMOL developed its Green Valley Estate in 2004 and 2005; planted MacIntyre Estate in 2016, leased Flax Estate in 2017, leased Wildrose Estate in 2018; and purchased Galante Estate in 2023. 

In-house farming has always been the next step for DuMOL. Working with a crew of 15, Winemaker and Partner Andy Smith, Associate Winemaker Jenna Davis and Viticulturist James King will strengthen DuMOL's continual focus on quality, ensuring the most sensitive agricultural practices are implemented.

A portion of the fruit from Dr. Galante will lead DuMOL's Wester Reach cuvée, a Pinot Noir with tremendous harmony, expressing the varied soils, microclimates, and entire Russian River Valley appellation. Following the 2023 harvest, the team will begin a process of incremental redevelopment of the property, focusing on DuMOL's preferred heritage vine selections.

Who was Dr. Galante? Dr. Maurice Galante, a legendary San Francisco-based surgeon and UCSF Professor Emeritus, bought the apple orchard planted on Goldridge Soil in the mid-1980s. Dr. Galante was fortunate enough to meet Peter Mondavi who encouraged him to convert his orchard into a vineyard. It was first planted with 22 acres of Pinot Noir vines in 1998. The two, Mondavi and Galante went on to create several limited-edition vintages using grapes from Galante's vineyard.  

Today, a new chapter begins for the vineyard as it joins DuMOL's Estate holdings, all within a 10-mile radius, now farmed by its in-house crew.

"One of the greatest privileges of a winemaker is to develop, plant, and farm a piece of land. Much to my delight, I have yet another vineyard project on the horizon." —Andy Smith, DuMOL's Winemaker, and Partner