discover Dehlinger
OUR APPROACH
Each year nature grants us another chance to make wine. In our Estate paradigm, as the cycle repeats, this opportunity plays out continually on the same piece of ground — we harvest from the same vines that we have for decades and the fermentations take place in the same building, with institutional memory held in the minds of long-term, artisan staff and family members. This consistency buffers our work from the pressures an individual season may bring, allowing us to capitalize on the best each year has to offer. Every year we aim to create wines incrementally better than those of the year before. As we seek to steadily learn from experience, our wines prove how craftsmanship builds on itself over time.
vERtical integration is our love language
We know that by taking ownership of each element of the production process, we can insist on the conditions that are necessary to make truly great wine. Dedicated farming team. Winemaking facility nestled among the vines. Onsite temperature controlled warehouse. It all happens here, from the grape growing to the floral arrangements.
we DO the farming
We apply our half century of farming know-how in the field, every day. Skilled farm hands who have been with the company for years to decades tend the vines, bringing expertise and care to each operation. Conducting the grapegrowing directly ourselves allows us to give attention to the details critical to winegrowing: balanced pruning, gentle hand leafing, properly adjusting crop levels, and picking each section at optimal maturity.
We know the Land
Over decades we’ve mapped differences in the soils and made observations on how the wines from each section of ground differ from the adjacent.
SMALL BATCH FERMENTATIONS
Knowing the land like the back of our hands, paired with the organizational rigor to follow through on our knowledge, allows us to pick small sections of the vineyard as individuals as they ripen, rather than as a mass. With each section of the land picked separately, each fermentation corresponds to a particular piece of ground. Dozens of small lots result from our process, and we select the best and most site expressive for our final blends, preserving the character of the vineyard in the wines.
we give the wines the proper time
Dehlinger wines are properly aged. Maintaining our own on-site bottling line allows us to bottle each wine when properly matured, rather than allowing a third party bottling company to dictate the timing of bottling. Our onsite, temperature controlled warehouse allows us to age bottled wines until the time of shipment to the customer. The wines aren’t rushed to release. While this may seem intuitive from a quality perspective, this approach is the exception rather than the rule in the industry.
IT’s ALL ABOUT KAIZEN
Kaizen is continuous improvement. Fifty years on Vine Hill Road has given us the opportunity to identify the variation in our soils, and the sections of ground that produce the most flavorful grapes for the most compelling wines. We’ve learned to match the land with the right grape variety, to explore clones, to refine care of the grapevine through canopy management and trellising. We’ve honed our fermentation and cellaring techniques, with properly aged wines in traditional cooperage, bottled unfiltered. A slow craft that unfolds on the order of decades takes multiple lifetimes of discovery to work out all the details, and we are off to a good start.
PINOT NOIR
Dehlinger Pinot noirs are considered a reference point for the variety in the Russian River Valley. Luscious and balanced, with a striking purity of fruit, these wines capture the potential of this great winegrowing region.
Chardonnay
Dehlinger has long been recognized for its Russian River Valley Chardonnays, which are known for their balance, fresh acidity, and unctuous flavor.
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
Characterful and complex, Dehlinger’s cool-climate Estate Cabernet Sauvignon bears a resemblance to the classically balanced, cassis-scented wines of Bordeaux.
SYRAH
Ageworthy and expressive, Dehlinger Syrahs remain a favorite of the Dehlinger family and our winemaking team over three decades after we grafted a small portion of our vineyard to the variety in 1990.
Garbro Ranch Wines
Our Estate now includes the historic Garbro Ranch. The wines we make from the old vines there tell the story of land long in agriculture.
behind the wine
Dehlinger is shaped not just by place, but by the people who tend it. A small, dedicated team—led by the family and supported by those who work the land and welcome guests—carry the work forward with care, experience, and consistency.
PINOT NOIR
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CHARDONNAY
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SYRAH
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