Dutton Ranch Shop Block Pinot Blanc
⏳ Drinking Window
2023 - 2026
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Fresh oysters, roasted chicken with herbs, goat cheese tart
✨ Technical Specifications
The Dutton Ranch 'Shop Block' Pinot Blanc is sourced from one of California's most historic vineyard sites. Planted in 1971 by the legendary Warren Dutton in the cool, fog-influenced Russian River Valley, the Shop Block represents some of the oldest Pinot Blanc vines in the United States. While Pinot Blanc is often overlooked in California in favor of Chardonnay, winemaker Pax Mahle champions this rare parcel to craft a white wine of striking energy and texture. Embracing a philosophy of minimal intervention, the fruit is gently whole-cluster pressed and fermented using native yeasts in a combination of concrete pebbles and neutral French oak barrels. This traditional approach coaxes out a beautiful tension between saline minerality, bright orchard fruit, and a rich, old-vine texture that pays homage to the deep roots of Sonoma County viticulture.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 2000 by Pax and Pam Mahle, Pax Wines emerged as an influential champion of cool-climate California viticulture, initially earning renown for single-vineyard expressions of Syrah. Operating out of an urban winery and tasting cellar in Sebastopol's Barlow district, the domaine collaborates closely with growers across coastal Sonoma County, Mendocino, and the Sierra Foothills. Viticulture centers on organically and sustainably farmed heritage plots, frequently anchored in fractured shale, marine sandstone, and decomposed granite. While early vintages leaned rich and assertive, Pax evolved toward an uncompromising low-intervention ethos characterized by whole-cluster foot stomping, spontaneous fermentations driven by ambient yeasts, neutral French oak aging, and minimal sulfur. Beyond benchmark Syrah bottlings such as Alder Springs, Griffin's Lair, and Castelli-Knight Ranch, the portfolio explores esoteric and heritage white varieties, notably old-vine Chenin Blanc, Vermentino, and Pinot Blanc, celebrated for their tensile acidity, savory transparency, and mineral cut.
🍇 Grapes
Pinot Blanc