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Darling Pinot Noir Deodora Vineyard 2023

Darling Pinot Noir Deodora Vineyard 2023

$62.00

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The Producer

Darling

The Terroir

Darling's vineyard list reads like a fog map. Every site with a published distance sits within 13 miles of the Pacific or San Pablo Bay, and most sit in the Petaluma Gap, where afternoon wind and fog pour inland. That cold slows ripening, so the current lineup lands between 11.5 and 12.5 percent alcohol. Deodora is dry Haire clay loam at 200 feet in Chileno Valley. Azaya, one of the only vineyards in west Marin, sits at 420 feet near Point Reyes and lost its entire 2021 crop to June frost. La Cruz, at the southern tip of the Gap, is a wind-battered hillside 5 miles from the bay.

Saint Marks is a 5-acre terraced, dry-farmed block of Goldridge sandy loam in the Russian River Valley that has never seen a chemical spray. Zayante, at 1,200 feet in the Santa Cruz Mountains, is dry-farmed and own-rooted. Mariah, at 2,400 feet on Mendocino Ridge, is ringed by redwoods. Darling owns no vines; it buys from family growers, so picking the site is the first winemaking decision.

Tom Darling is from Boston, and we don't hold it against him. He played hockey and tennis in college, worked in sales, and caught the wine bug visiting Virginia wineries and pouring part-time in a Middleburg tasting room. In fall 2016 he and his wife, Ashley, moved to Napa, where Tom worked a harvest. What he tasted there, he told us, was big, oaky, and high in alcohol. What the two of them drank at home was Burgundy and lower-alcohol European wine, a habit that started with Kermit Lynch's Beaujolais list.

In 2017 they made two barrels of Syrah from McEvoy Ranch, a cool Petaluma Gap site. It sold out within months and went on the list at Bouchon. Tom calls himself a newcomer with minimal formal training, and he is one of the nicest people we buy from. The approach is simple: pick early, keep clusters whole, add little, fine and filter nothing. Most wines run 100 to 350 cases, and the couple pours them at a tasting room on the Sonoma Plaza that opened in July 2022.
  • Pinot Gris La Cruz Pinot Gris from the rocky, wind-exposed upper hillside at La Cruz, at the southern tip of the Petaluma Gap, on Diablo clay and Haire loam. The 2022 came in at 11 percent alcohol, and the site pushes it toward mineral and citrus rather than weight.
  • Pinot Noir Azaya Pinot Noir from a hand-farmed, organically farmed hillside in west Marin near Point Reyes, at 420 feet on Blucher loam. The 2019 was 75 percent whole cluster, 10 months in neutral oak, 12.5 percent alcohol, and about 100 cases. Frost took the whole 2021 crop, so some years there is none.
  • Pinot Noir Deodora Clone 2A (Wädenswil) Pinot Noir from Chileno Valley west of Petaluma, on Haire clay loam at 200 feet. The site has little water, so yields stay naturally low, and fog and wind keep acidity high at moderate alcohol.
  • Gamay Baytree Lane Gamay from the southern tip of Sonoma Valley at the Carneros line, at 700 feet on Raynor clay and volcanic soils. The 2024 spent 10 days in carbonic maceration, then four days of punchdowns and six months in neutral French oak, finishing at 12 percent. This is the one for Beaujolais drinkers.
  • Chardonnay Den Chósta Darling's Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, modeled on Chablis. It is whole-cluster pressed, settled without sulfur, fermented in barrel with little or no new oak and no stirring, then left alone until bottling.
  • Syrah Den Chósta Sonoma Coast Syrah blended from cool coastal sites. The 2023 was 60 percent whole cluster, 10 months in neutral French oak, and 11.5 percent alcohol, which puts it at Pinot Noir weight.
  • Syrah Saint Marks Syrah from Mark and Ginny Weston's 5-acre terraced, dry-farmed vineyard near Joseph Swan in the Russian River Valley, where 20-plus-year-old vines give less than 1 ton per acre. The 2022 was 100 percent whole cluster, 15 months in neutral French oak, 12.5 percent alcohol, and 180 cases. Darling calls it its most powerful and age-worthy Syrah.
  • Passetoutgrain Pinot Noir and Gamay in one bottle, named for Burgundy's Bourgogne Passetoutgrains, the everyday blend of the same two grapes. Darling had not published vineyard or cellar details for the 2025 when we wrote this.
  • Pinot Noir Grand Vent A past release from west Petaluma, 270 feet on Steinbeck loam, 13 miles from the Pacific, where fog and afternoon wind delay ripening. The 2019 was 100 percent whole cluster, 10 months in neutral oak, and 12.6 percent alcohol.
  • Pinot Noir Turnstone A past release from a family-owned site in the Sebastopol Hills, 240 feet on Goldridge sandy loam, farmed by hand with oils and teas. Darling is the only producer of Pinot Noir from it.
  • Syrah Zayante A past release from 1,200 feet on the west face of the Santa Cruz Mountains: own-rooted vines planted in 1988, dry-farmed on fractured sandstone and shale. The 2021 was 100 percent whole cluster, 11 months in neutral French oak, three barrels. Darling calls it its most mineral Syrah.
  • Syrah North Coast A past release blending Sonoma Valley benchland and Mendocino Ridge fruit. The 2021 was 100 percent whole cluster, 11 months in four neutral barriques, and 12.5 percent alcohol.
  • Gamay James Creek A past release of organically farmed Gamay from James Creek Vineyard in Sonoma Valley, 75 percent carbonic maceration and six months in neutral French oak.

Shop all Darling (8)

Sonoma County, located west of Napa Valley and stretching to the Pacific Ocean, is a large and diverse wine region in California. With a history of winemaking dating back to the 19th century, Sonoma's varied terroir allows it to grow grapes in multiple places throughout the region. Bordered by the Mayacamas Mountains on the east and the Pacific Ocean on the west, the county encompasses a range of climates and soils. The Russian River Valley, known for its cool climate influenced by fog, is acclaimed for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Alexander Valley, further inland and warmer, excels with Cabernet Sauvignon. The Sonoma Coast, a region directly influenced by the Pacific's cool breezes and fog, is gaining recognition for elegant, cool-climate wines, particularly Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. This diverse landscape provides the fruit for an array of styles.

California - Sonoma County

Pinot Noir is a thin-skinned, notoriously difficult-to-grow, low-yielding grape that finds its ancestral home in Burgundy, France, where it produces some of the world's most elegant and nuanced wines. While Burgundy remains its spiritual heartland, Pinot Noir has since traveled the globe, finding success in other cooler climates, notably in California, Oregon, New Zealand, and Germany. This grape is a challenge for any grower, as it requires specific conditions to show its best, and yet the wines it produces are capable of such a captivating and singular character.

Pinot Noir

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We ship wine to most states within 1 week of ordering depending on the weather. We don't ship beer or spirits. $100 minimum order.

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Denver, CO 80216

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